CEAS claim school records in 1km Dash!

Chengelo Elite Athletics Squad show their class in school 1km Dash event.

Herbert Mithi on his way to victory in the Intermediate Boys' 1km Dash.

Chengelo Elite Athletics Squad once again showed why they are considered as the top athletes in the school as they shared the spoils at the annual 1km Dash event. Four of the squad took part in the competition which was organised by Mr Tim Foster.

Sisters Maria and Johanna ran together in the Junior Girls' race and both beat the previous record of three minutes and 28 seconds set in 2012. Johanna emerged as the victor on this occasion, beating her sister by less than a second in an exciting finish. The new record now stands at three minutes and 27 seconds.

 Johanna (left) and Maria (right) move into the lead early on.

Herbert Mithi destroyed the rest of the field in the Intermediate Boys edition of the race. His time of three minutes and two seconds equaled the existing record. Herbert will surely be looking to lower that school record to under three minutes next year when he will remain in the Intermediate age group.

Herbert pushing hard towards the end of his race.

Chigomezyo Kawonga faced the toughest competition of all in Chengelo's own "Iron Man" Daniel Parsons in the Senior Boys' race. The two stayed neck-and-neck until the last 100m, when a sprint finish ensued. Chigo's endurance and determination showed as he clinched victory in a time of two minutes and 51 seconds, three seconds off the school record set by Daniel Parsons one year ago. Chigo will be targetting that record in the 2015 edition of the 1km Dash.

 Chigo moves into top gear during his sprint finish with Daniel Parsons.

There was more good news as some of the squad were invited to the "Race of Champions" at the OYDC on 27th September. The squad will face their toughest races to date against the cream of Zambia's athletes, including 800m expert Prince Mumba and women's 400m champion Kabange Mupopo, who recently ran a personal best of 50.87 seconds.