Phillip, Denny rule CariFin savannah lap

ABIJAH Phillip and Dianne Denny won the men's and women's titles respectively when the CariFin Games Savannah One-Lap event was held on Thursday at the Queen's Park Savannah, Port of Spain.

The savannah was full of splendour as the participants from financial institutions came out in their team colours. First Citizens, represented in green, even had cheerleaders supporting their athletes in the race which started and ended opposite TGI Fridays.

Phillip of Republic Bank finished just ahead of Scotiabank's Shay Gonzales. Phillip won in 15 minutes and 51 seconds (15:51) and Gonzales stopped the clock in 15:54. Both runners gave it everything they had in the final 50 metres, but Phillip was fast enough to hold off the challenge of Gonzales.

Clinton Williams of Team Finance was third among the men in 17:07.

After the race, Phillip said, "I just wanted to do my best...

"While we are all bankers and financial personnel, we like to compete. It is fun, yes, but everybody wants to win."

Denny of Scotiabank, competing in her first CariFin Games, won the women's run in 19:03. Wendy Darbasie of Central Bank was not far behind as she ended second in 19:49 and Republic Bank's Kelly Kurbanali rounded off the top three for the women in 22:53.

Denny was satisfied with her performance. "I wanted to finish in at least 20 minutes. I knew going in my strategy was to pace myself in the first mile and then in the second mile really just take off, so I think my strategy worked," she said.

Participants also had the option of competing in the walking category.

The Republic Bank pair of Annette Soverall and Kadesha Charles finished first and second respectively. Soverall was a comfortable winner in 31:09 and Charles more than a minute behind in 32:29. Cherisse Pierre of Sagicor was right on the heels of Charles, but had to settle for third spot in 32:32.

It was a close battle for the men's walk title. Central Bank's Brian Jeremie won in 27:48, closely followed by Deodath Harrikissoon of First Citizens who stopped the clock in 27:55. Rounding off the top three was Republic Bank's Kenion Williams in 30:25.