New records established in 2016 DASSA athletics event

Denzil Pinto 07:51 18/04/2016
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  • Successful: Repton School team.

    There was no shortage of sporting talent on show as records tumbled in this season’s Dubai Affiliated School Sport Association (DASSA) athletics event.

    More than 800 youths from 33 schools across the emirate, competed in various track and field disciplines at Dubai Sports City.

    And with it being one of DASSA’s top competitions, it certainly provided some outstanding individual displays with 60 new records being set across the U-12, U-14, U-16 and U-19 age groups.

    In the girls category, Kat Webb was one of the standout performers. The Dubai College pupil came out on top in both the triple and long jumps with 9.13m and 4.72m respectively in the U-14s.

    It was one of many highlights for Dubai College with the institution breaking seven more records including Emily Davidson’s 100m triumph in the U-12 category, where she clocked an impressive 13.5 seconds. She finished third in the last round having been beaten by JESS’ Megan Davies.

    Niamh Connolly of Dubai English Speaking School (DESS) matched Webb’s feats and also put herself into the record books.

    Competing in the U-19 category, Connolly threw 8.89m in the shot put before going the furthest with her 24.5m attempt in the javelin.

    In the boys event, the quality of competition continued with 25 new records. Juan Carlos followed in the footsteps of Webb and Connolly by taking gold in two disciplines. The Dubai College pupil set a new mark of 5.54m in the long jump and later registered 10.97m in the triple jump.

    It was one of nine new records that Dubai College had set, while Kay Laljising and Nikhil Mendez triumphed for Wellington International School.

    It was also a day to remember for Amaan Raza in the U-12s. The Repton School pupil set a new 100m record of 12.59s and added another medal to his collection by taking gold in the 200m in 25.64s.

    More success continued for Raza, who teamed up in the 4x100m relays. Joined by Zayyan Khan, Elliott Wilson and Sahand Sarbaz, Raza and his team-mates had to work for their victory pipping DESC by the finest of margins to clock 56.35secs. It was no surprise that Raza was thrilled by his own performances.

    “I’m really happy that I did well in this competition,” said the 12-year- old. “There were a lot of strong sides and there were a lot of tough pupils who train quite a lot like me and that made things quite difficult.”

    Speaking of the event, he added: “Apart from school sports days, I don’t normally get to see the other, older age groups compete.

    “With the best athletes in a combined DASSA event, I think it’s a great opportunity to promote school athletics.

    “Now I’ve competed and seen some of the best sprinters across Dubai, I’m more motivated than ever to improve my times for next year and break my 100m record.”

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