The 15th annual International Schools Athletic Competition concluded today at the Sugathadasa Stadium, Colombo showcasing some of the finest athleticism among the international schools.
A Recap – Day one & two
The championship commenced on the 27th February with the participation of over 3000 athletes from 25 schools around the island nation. Asiri Wijesekara and Purnima Gunerathene set two new meet records on day one which was the most solemn moment of the entire championship. Day two flowed in an orderly manner and at the end of day two Lyceum Wattala stood unbeaten with a total medal tally of 55 medals.
Day Three
Less field events and more track events were given prominence on the last day of the championship. Out of the basket the 100m dash in all age groups certainly was the event which everyone elated for.
Asiri Wijesekara of Gateway College, Colombo clocked 11.10 seconds when he finished off the under-17 boys 100m dash while his team-mate Natalie Malpana won the gold in the girls event with a timing of 13.00 seconds. The under-19 boy’s category was drawn under the name of Lachitha Chenuka of Lyceum Wattala with a timing of 11.40 seconds and the girl’s category was won by Purnima Gunerthene of Leeds International School clocking 13.20 seconds. The most provocative under-20 boys’ category was won by Salamn Faris of Lyceum Rathnapura while the girl’s event was owned by Dilshara Peiris of Colombo International School with a timing of 14.90 seconds.
The 4x400m relays that were held as the last lap of events indeed did drag the spectators into the sidelines. Lyceum Wattala won the gold in the under-17 boy’s category of the event with a new meet record of 03:40:40 minutes while their girls team won the girl`s category with a timing of 04:40:00 minutes. The under-19 boy`s category was also won by Lyceum Wattala with another new meet record of 03:28:40 minutes while the girl`s event was won by Gateway College Colombo with clocking 04:40:30 seconds. Colombo International School clocking a time of 03:56:00 minutes won the gold in the under-20 boys category while their girl`s event won the girl`s event with no competition to witnessed.
While the individual events were sorted as such the medal tally remained in the same positions but with different figures for respective schools. At the end of the day Lyceum Wattala remained unmatched with a total number of 85 medals which included 43 gold medals, 29 Silver medal and 13 bronze medals. The hosts managed to retain their spot in the second place with a total number of 51 medals with 17 gold medals, 23 silver medals and 11 bronze medals. The third place remained with Lyceum Nugegoda as they enjoyed a total of 36 medals in the medal tally with 10 gold medals, 9 silver medal and 17 bronze medals.
While the places in the medal tally remained as such Aisiri Wijesekara of Gateway College and Purnima Gunerthene of Leeds International School dazzled the spectators with energetic athleticism throughout the championship and thus remained as stars of ISAC 2015. Asiri Wijesekara clinched the titles of; Under-17 boys champion, under-17 overall champion, best track athlete, best male athlete, fastest male athlete and the best performance of the meet while Purnima Guneratene capped the titles of; Under 19 girls champion, under-19 overall champion, best field athlete and best female athlete at this year’s ISAC.
This years` fastest female title was clinched by Natalie Malapan of Gateway College, Colombo and the Promising Athlete of the championship was awarded to Binuri Dideniya of Lyceum International School Nugegoda.
It was rather surprising to witness that although Lyceum Wattala won the overall championship with 85 medals in total there wasn’t a trophy allocated to them during the awards presentation. It leaves us with a question as to if it a technical error or is it the tradition not to allocate the trophy for the winning school to cherish the moment which maybe only a once in a lifetime. The hosts-organizers; a point to re-think.
Despite the technical errors the championship concluded with the handing over of the flag ceremony to the next school in line to organize the 16th ISAC 2016 in the following year which is Lyceum International School – Nugegoda.
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