Shukla, Francis triumph at NAAA Cross-Country

SAMANTHA Shukla and Donnell Francis won the women's and men's 20-and-Over titles respectively when the National Association of Athletics Administrations (NAAA) Cross-Country Championships was held at the Queen's Park Savannah, Port of Spain on Sunday.

Shukla, running unattached, won the women's 6K (six-kilometre) event in 25 minutes and 23 seconds (25:23). April Francis of Abilene Wildcats was a distant second in 32:37 and Lorena Mendoza of One-a-Week finished third in 37:53.

The men's 8K category was more competitive as Francis won gold in 29:41 and George Smith of Defence Force was a close second in 29:56. Keron Ali, also of Defence Force, ended third in 30:56.

In the Under-20 6K category, Kelicia Aguillera of Tranquillity Secondary and Tafari Waldron of Cougars were victorious. Aguillera was the first among the girls in 21:04, Arlette Ollivierre of Signal Hill Secondary finished second in 21:33 and Shanille Greene of Falcons rounded off the top three in 22:00.

Waldron easily won the boys category as the national junior athlete stopped the clock in 13:51, Nkosi Toney of Signal Hill took silver in 14:24 and Cyril Sumner of Memphis copped bronze in 14:58.

In the Under-17 girls 4K division, Kayleigh Forde of One-A-Week won in 17:01. She was followed by Rasheeda Cave of RSS Phoenix in 19:11 and Andgel Davidson of Mason Hall Police Youth Club in 20:03.

Omere Thompson of One-A-Week was impressive in the Under-17 boys 4K as he won comfortably in 14:15. Zack La Rosa of Mason Hall Police Youth Club ended second in 15:26 and Jahbarri Richards of Toco TAFAC finished third in 15:56.

The Under-15 athletes competed over 2K.

TT junior athlete Aniqah Bailey of One-A-Week continued her strong showing in 2022 with victory in the girls category in 7:29. It was a close race for second with Gloria Henry of RSS Phoenix stopping the clock in 8:11 and Sylina Jack of Mason Hall ending third in 8:15. Henry delivered a sterling effort as she is only nine years old.

It was a tight finish between Isaiah Alder of Cougars and Keiel Samuel of One-A-Week in the boys Under-15. Alder finished in 6:55.6 to win gold ahead of Samuel who ended in 6:56.0. Khordae Lewis of One-A-Week claimed bronze in 7:07.