The much-anticipated second day of the 3rd Ritzbury Relay Championship was held yesterday, the 10th of April, at the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Stadium, Diyagama. Many events were held, in which many of these young, talented athletes were able to secure victories, displaying their skills and hardwork.
Firstly, in the U-16 Girls 4x800m event, it was A Rathnayaka C C- Walala clocking a very decisive timing of 10:11:78 as their final time, an eleven-second lead over second place. Similarly, in the U-16 Boys category Sujatha K V- Rambukkana had a final performance of 8:32:09, ten seconds ahead of their competition too.
Similarly, it was A Rathnayaka C C- Walala who secured first place in the U-18 Girls 4x800m relay, with a very convincing victory too; a timing of 10:06:55. Just like their female counterparts, the A Rathnayaka C C- Walala Boys U-18 team obtained the same victory in their race, clocking a timing of 8:12:32 seconds, 23 seconds ahead of second place.
Further, the U-20 Girls 4x800m was the time to shine for Lyceum I S- Wattala, with a final performance of 9:51:45. It was also St. Benedicts’ College, Colombo 13, who secured the victory in the Boys’ 4x800m U-20 category, with a very impressive timing of 7:58:06, the only team who was able to run sub-8 minutes. These names are all familiar to us during the course of this Relay Carnival, as their other teams from these schools obtained similar victories in the first day of this meet too.
In the U-14 Girls 4x50m event, it was Sujatha Vidyalaya, Matara, who was able to secure a victory with a millisecond margin, running a time of 28.1 in the finals. However, in the Boys 4x50m category, it was, once again, St. Benedict’s College, Colombo 13, who obtained the victory with a timing of 25.5 seconds.
Consequently, in the Short Distance Medley (S.D.M), it was Lyceum I S- Wattala who recorded a timing of 2:28:01, securing first place in the U-16 Girls category. In the U-18 Girls Category, once again, A Rathnayaka C C- Walala became champions, with a timing of 2:23:81. Gateway College- Colombo were, however, the victors of the U-20 Girls category of this event, with a final time of 2:21:50.
In the U-18 Boys Category, it was Maris Stella C- Negombo, with a final performance of 2:07:24, who emerged first place in this very challenging race. Similarly, this same school became the champions of this race in the U-20 Boys Category too, with an impressive timing of 1:59:71.
Moreover, the very popular and extremely competitive 4x100m relays were held thereafter. The finals are to be held on the final day of the competition, and it is clear through the timings of the heats that in all categories, this is set to be a very tight competition. In the u-20 Girls Category of this event, a straight final was held, with Gateway College- Colombo, emerging victorious with a timing of 49:04. The 4x400m heats were held too, with the finals to take place on the third day of competition as well.
These incredible timings run by the young athletes bring out just how much the sport has evolved in Sri Lanka, with so much potential across all genders and age groups. The third day of this competition will no doubt, finish off this display of talent in vigour and style. Stay tuned for more updates of the Ritzbury Relay Championship, brought to you by ThePapare.
