– Phillips, King pick up female and male 100M silver

IT was a productive day for Guyana on the track at the 2017 South American Youth Games in Santiago, Chile, with the country winning its first medal – Gold – thanks to Deshanna Skeete’s sensational run in the Girls 400M.

Skeete’s win was also historic by all means, given the fact that it was the first time Guyana would win gold at the prestigious games which is a marquee event in South America.
Skeete clocked 57.28 seconds to win ahead of Brazil’s Jessica Moreira who ran 57.54 seconds, while Ecuador’s Andreina Valencia (58.81 seconds) had to settle for third.
Guyana also won silver in the female and male 100M through Kenisha Phillips and Jermaine King, respectively.

The Boys 100M was closely contested, and the time reflected how close Guyana came to winning gold.Paraguay’s Fabrizio Aquino finished first with 10.92 second, ‘pipping’ Guyana’s King at the line as he registered 10.963 seconds for silver while Colombia’s Gian Mosquera came in third with a time of 10.966 seconds.

It was also a close finish for Phillips in the women’s 100M as well, with Colombia’s Angie Echeverria winning in a ‘photo finish’, running 12.114, as compared to the Guyanese time of 12.18 seconds.

Shary Quiñonez, (12.27 seconds) another Colombian, dipped at the line but finished third. Prior to the great showing on the track, the Guyana National Anthem was not heard in Santiago, since the other representatives were either knocked out in the quarter-finals or preliminary stage of their respective events.