Benedictines triumph at Western Province Schools Athletics Championship

Monday, 18 August 2025 01:27 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

St. Benedict’s College athletes covered themselves in glory at the Diyagama Stadium from 11-14 August, winning the Overall Championship at the highly competitive Western Province Schools Athletics Championship, where all the leading schools in the Colombo, Gampaha, and Kalutara districts competed.

The Benedictines, who started the year winning the prestigious Ritzbury All Island Schools Athletics Relay Carnival in April, continued their good form, bagging the Colombo Zonal Schools Championship convincingly in June, and have now won the tough Western Province Schools Athletics Championship, making it three in a row.

It was a ding dong battle between St. Benedict’s, Maris Stella Negombo, and Lyceum International School throughout the four days of intense competition, and the Overall Winner was decided in the last event of the Championship – the Under 20 – 4x400 metres Relay – where the Benedictines clearly proved their superiority.

It was a brilliant, disciplined all-round performance by the Benedictines, where they excelled in sprints, long distance, jumping events, and, their forte, the relays. The Bens won six Gold medals, eight Silver medals, six Bronze medals, and totalled 169 points.

Among the Gold medallists were Liyura Zehan Dananjaya (Under 14 – Long Jump), Sinura Salgado (Under 16 – 800 metres), Senesh Jayasinghe (Under 18 – Triple Jump), Pahasara Gunetunge (Under 18 – 800 metres). The Bens also bagged Gold in the Relays (Under 14 – 4x100 metres and Under 20 – 4x400 metres).

The Benedictine coaching and support staff, led by Master-in-Charge/Head Coach Nuwan Abeywickrema, have been working diligently with the youngsters for several months to produce these outstanding achievements. They are being supported by the school management and Old Benedictines in Sri Lanka and from around the world, who are extremely proud of the excellent performances of the young athletes of the College. Their goal is to become the undisputed No.1 in Sri Lanka Schools Athletics in 2025.