Darius Harding, Shian Lewis shine at Secondary Schools' North Region 5K

SEVENTEEN-year-old Darius Harding defeated over 250 runners to the line on October 10 when the Secondary Schools Track and Field’s (SSTF) Middle-Distance League North Region 5K event was contested in Malabar.

In a race that commenced and ended at the southern gate of Malabar Secondary School, Harding was challenged by Isaiah Alder. Still, he had enough in the tank to hold off the Queen’s Royal College student as he claimed the open title with a time of 18 minutes and five seconds (18:05). Alder, 16, had a stern battle of his own to claim second spot overall as his time of 18:41 beat his QRC teammate Christopher Sammy (19:01) into third spot.

Trinity College East’s Armani Dillon (19.12) and Toco Secondary’s Darreon Thom (20 minutes) finished in fourth and fifth respectively, with Arima Central Secondary’s Mikael Serrette (20:02) claiming sixth spot overall as he won the under-15 category ahead of El Dorado East Secondary’s Isaiah John (22:05), Hillview College’s Urebo Johnson (22:18) and QRC’s Jah-Michael Waldron (22:37), the younger brother of Carifta champ and long-distance specialist Tafari Waldron.

Alder, Sammy, Dillon and Thom all competed in the under-17 category, with Alder adding to his age group victory at the Trinidad Cross-Country Run at the Queen’s Park Savannah in PoS on September 22.

The 13-year-old Serrette was also celebrating his second victory in the Middle-Distance League, having won the under-15 category of the Trinidad Cross-Country Run.

Carifta 2024 bronze medallist Shian Lewis was the first athlete over the line in the female category, and the Success Laventille Secondary School student clocked a time of 22:43 as she copped the under-17 category and placed 15th overall.

St Joseph’s Convent PoS’ Leah De Freitas (25:20) placed second overall in the female category and she was the first competitor over the line in the girls’ under-15 category, beating Trinidad Cross-Country Run winner Reneice Smith (28:56) into second spot in the under-15 category. The Bishop Anstey High School pair of Jeniah Thomas (26:45) and Sharlene Phillip (26:47) were the next runners to hit the tape in the female category and they had a healthy battle to the line as they placed second and third respectively in the under-17 category.

In the girls’ over-17 category, Bates Memorial High School’s Shenequa Goitia (27:53) took first place ahead of Malabar Secondary’s Sarah Rogers (28:16), with QRC’s Hakim Salandy (20:07) leading a one-two finish for the Royalians ahead of Anil Gosine (22:24) in the boys’ over-17 category.

Action in the Middle-Distance League will continue with 5K races for the Tobago and South regions on October 15 and 24 respectively.

The Middle-Distance League culminates with the Third Run, with separate races in the South/Central, Tobago and North Regions. This segment of the Middle Distance will start with the Hill Run in San Fernando on November 5, followed by races in the Tobago and North regions on November 7 and 15 respectively.