by Reemus Fernando

St. Sebastian’s College, Moratuwa enjoyed remarkable success at the recently held Sir John Tarbat Junior Athletics Championships as the outfit trained by Jayashantha Fernando continued the winning form they displayed at the Zonal Championships to excel at the showpiece event for juniors.

The young Sebs secured the runner-up title of the Under 13 age category and the overall third place in the boys’ category behind St. Joseph Vaz’s, Wennappuwa and Maris Stella, Negombo at the Sir John Tarbat Junior Championships. Their impressive performances included two record-breaking feats in the Under 13 and Under 12 age categories.

“All the athletes who competed at the meet were our own athletes. That is why these achievements are so special. We have achieved this with our own talent,” said Fernando commenting on the success of his team in an interview with The Island.

Fernando, who has been training St. Sebastian’s athletes for more than two decades, expressed his gratitude for the support given by the school’s administration to nurture budding athletes.

At the meet held in December, the Sebs established two records. Hurdler Aken Gunathilaka clocked 11.4 seconds to create a new meet record in the Under 13 boys’ 70 metres hurdles. Gunathilaka also did well in the long jump securing a podium finish.

Their Under 12 boys’ 4×100 metres relay team inclusive of Irash Perera, Himansa Menuka, Angelo de Silva and Yosuwa Degambada returned a time of 54.5 seconds to improve the meet record of their event.

In the Under 15 shot put, Shenel Weerakoon hurled the implement beyond the merit standard to win first place. He was also placed fourth in the javelin throw.

In the other individual events, Ravish de Mel (Under 15 200m), Sherosh Fernando (Under 15 400m), Heshanda Fernando (Under 14 boys’ 100 metres), N. Maheesha (Under 14 boys’ 100m), Maneesha Perera (Under 14 75m hurdles), Sadaru Perera (Under 14 75m hurdles), Dhineth Perera (Under 13 boys’ 100m), Mishel Peiris (Under 13 70 m hurdles), Induwara Suwaris (Under 13 70m hurdles & high jump), Apoorva Fernando (Under 13 high jump), Leshan Silva (Under 13 high jump) , Angelo de Silva (Under 12 boys’ 80m and 100m), Himansa Menuka (Under 12 80m and 100m) and Yoshuwa Degambada (Under 12 long jump) excelled reaching merit standards.

The outstanding achievement at the Sir John Tarbat Junior Championships was the icing on the cake for the Sebs who commenced the campaign in the year 2022 with the title victory at their Zonal Championships. The Sebs aggregated 185 points to overpower S. Thomas’, Mount Lavinia by a massive margin of 126 points at the Education Ministry conducted event last year.