A high jump for Kerala

Kozhikode: Mariya Jaison and Anandhu KS hogged the limelight by soaring to new heights as six meet records were set on day three of the 61st National Schools Athletics Championship at Olympian Rahman Stadium here on Sunday.
The hosts continued to rule the roost, winning 10 gold, five silver and five bronze medals on the day and extended their lead at the top of the table with 139 points.Maharashtra were a distant second with 36 points followed by Punjab with 29 points.
All eyes were pinned on Mariya when she took the pole in senior girls' pole vault event. And she didn't disappoint. She improved her own two-year-old record of 3.40m by raising the bar by 10cm on Sunday. In junior boy's high jump event, Anandhu too faced little competition and improved the meet record of 2.07m to 2.08m. Anandhu looked good to leap to bigger heights after setting a new mark but he withdrew due to cramps on his left leg following medical team's advice.
If Kerala athletes suffered a major jolt in 100m events -- they were forced to be content with a bronze won by Anjali PD (12.62s) in the girls' junior event -- their middle distance runners helped them recover lost ground. Abhitha Mary Manuel and Anumol Thampi set meet records in senior and junior girls 1500m while Bibin George (senior boys 1500m), Ajith PN (jr boys 1500m) ensured Kerala's dominance in the middle distance events.
Kerala girls also bagged the race walk gold medals with national junior and youth champion KT Neena, and Sandra Surendran winning the 5km (seniors) and 3km (junior) events respectively. There was some drama in the junior girls walk as Asha Soman who finished first in the event was disqualified after receiving three cards from three different judges and second placed Sandra was declared the winner.
Maha sprinters
Tamil Nadu's V Tamil Selvi (senior, 12.39s), Maharashtra sprinters Lewis Rosalin (junior, 12.43s) and Pendharkar Manasi (12.95s) emerged as the fastest athletes in the girls category. Maharashtra sprinters missed the chance to make a clean sweep as Hiray Siddhi (12.40s) was beaten by Selvi in senior category. In the boys events, Manish of Karnataka (senior, 10.76s), C. Ajithkumar of Tamil Nadu (junior boys, 11.08s) and Nisar Ahmed of Delhi (sub-junior, 11.55s) were the fastest.
Record double for Anumol
As expected Anumol Thampi raced her way to the 1500m gold to make it a double for her in the meet. She lead from start to finish to finish the three-and-a-half lap event in a new time of 4 minutes 34.08 seconds. The 10th standard student of Mar Basil HSS, Kothamangalam erased the six-year-old record of 4:41.90s set by Shameena Jabbar.
Local girl Abitha, a PT Usha trainee, saved her best for the last and it helped her pip her teammate Babita C to win gold in senior girls 1500m.
Both were on their heels with Abitha shadowing the lead pack in the beginning. But when the final bell for the final lap was sounded, she tried to break away from the pack but Babita was equal to the task as and challenged her till the finish line. But the lanky Abitha touched the tape first stopping the clock at 4 minutes 27.22 seconds and shaved off at least seven second from the old record owned by Chita PU (4:35.72s in 2013). Babitha (4:27.29s) also bettered the old mark. Komal Jagadale of Maharashtra (4:35.96) who set the pace in the first two laps settled for bronze medal.
"I did not expect such a push from Babita. It was quiet unexpected," quipped Abitha after the race. "It was a good race I enjoyed the competition and I'm sure the the on field rivalry will stand the test the time in future too."
Kozhikode: Mariya Jaison known for her exploits in pole vault event signed off her school athletic career with a record in the national schools competitions here on Sunday. But the 18-year-old Pala girl who is fondly called 'Yelena Isinbayeva of Kerala' is not happy. The plus two student of St Mary's GHSS was hoping to be part of the Indian team for the South Asian Games to be held in Guwahati next week. Mariya, who was eagerly training for the event with coach KP Satheeshkumar in a makeshift base among rubber plantations for the past one month, was dismayed when she came to know that pole vault is not part of the athletics events in South Asian Games!
"I was mentally preparing after the Ranchi Junior Nationals when I won the gold with an effort of 3.70m. We're told by top officials both in state and at the national level that Ranchi junior is also the trials to select the Indian team for South Asian Games. Just a week ago, I came to know that the pole vault event itself is not in the (SAG Games) schedule," a distraught Mariya said.
Mariya, a long jumper in sub-junior level, switched to pole vault six years ago and set her mark in both junior and senior levels. She not only holds both the state and national schools record now, but also is the junior champion and a gold medalist at the senior national level.
Mariya owns the records in both - national junior and in national school for the past three years.
"If I do not get more competition how will I improve in pole vault, after all this is touted as the most difficult event in athletics?" the teenager said.