TRAILING behind as ‘A’ Division led for the first two days, Headquarters (HQ) team surged into the lead and eventually won the 59th Guyana Police Force Inter-Division Track and Field Championships, which concluded under floodlights last evening at the Police Sports Club ground, Eve Leary.

Dominating with major wins throughout the day and passing the mild 21-point lead that ‘A’ Division ended with on Tuesday, seemed inevitable for the Headquarters Division. HQ stood out with 493 points after 36 out of 38 final events, while ‘A’ Division gathered 453 points. Following way behind were Country Division with a clear third place on 187 points, and ‘B’ Division in the cellar with 134 points.
Down on the field, the individual races saw team mates come up against each other as the athletes vehemently sought after wins. The best was saved for last, as exciting competition in the 100m, 200m and 400m finals continued across the rain-soaked ground.
On the Men’s side the heat was on between ‘A’ Division’s Shawn Semple and HQ’s Keith Roberts in the 100m, and though much was expected in the 200m battle fans found that they were in for a disappointment.
After winning the 100m in 10.9 seconds ahead of Roberts, Semple found himself out of the opportunity to see if he could do better in the 200m after he was disqualified for a false start. Roberts took an easy win in the 200m in 23 seconds, while Derwin Eastman moved up to second place off a 23.1 seconds finish in the 200m after he finished fourth in the 100m.
Roberts had 11.2 seconds finish behind Semple in the 100m. Semple also won the 400m in 51.7 seconds, with Kevin Bayley in second in 52.1 seconds. Roberts did not participate in the 400m.
Though angry to be out of a chance to prove himself against his biggest competition, Roberts, suffering from a hamstring injury, was nonetheless satisfied with his performance in the 200m, assured that he was already guaranteed a win of the 200m with or without Semple’s competition
“Firstly, I just want to give God thanks and praise for today because I’m currently nursing an injury, a hamstring injury. In the 100m I didn’t feel so well at the start because I slipped in the blocks, but in the 200m I felt better although my competitor – Shawn Semple – false-started. I was very angry about that, but all said and done I ran my race and did what I was supposed to do.
“I was very satisfied (about my 100m performance), even if he (Semple) was there I would’ve still won it because I run a better 200 right now than a 100m, so I feel better in that race.”
Though sharing Roberts’ disappointment in his omission from the race, Semple contended that there was a possibility Roberts may have been celebrating a second-place finish if he, Semple, was in that 200m.
“I feel very, very bad because the 200m is actually a stronger race than my 100m so I think there was a possibility (that I could’ve beaten Roberts). The 100m was fairly well done but I did expect to run a bit faster, but the condition of the ground and I didn’t get to execute the race properly because I came up too early.” Semple said.
It was a more fierce competition on the distaff side, as HQ team mates Alita Moore and Nadine Rodrigues battled it out in the 100m, 200m and 400m races.
Rodrigues, who was not completely satisfied with the performances she was able to churn out, lost the hat-trick of events to Moore. Rodrigues finished behind Moore in the 100m, and worked hard for another second place behind Moore as she pushed to send ‘A’ Division’s Shanna Thornhill to third place. Moore won the race in 26.3 seconds, while Thornhill ended in 28.6 seconds. No time was given for Rodrigues’ performance. Moore won the 100m in 12.2 seconds, and the 400m in 1:01.4s, while Rodrigues finished 1:05.4 in the 400m.
In the evening the relays had the spectators in uproar. Country Division were given a chance to shine as they ran away with the Men’s 4x100m. The team, lead by Chavez Ageday, also included Quame Benn, Trevor Benn Wayne Delforte.
Second place went to the HQ team comprising Keith Roberts, Troy Williams, Troy Benn, and Paul Williams. Shawn Semple, Harry Josiah, Anthony and Colin Sullivan brought in third for ‘A’ Division.
But it was HQ who led the way in the Women’s 4x100m, comprising Alita Moore, Nadine Rodrigues, Natasha Alder and Sonia Hubert. ‘A’ Division brought second and Country Division came third.