Tuesday, March 2, 2010

GAF, CENTRAL REGION EMERGE TOPS...At 27th National Cross Country Championship (PAGE 71, MARCH 1, 2010)

The Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) male team and a female team from the Central Region last Saturday won the male and female race respectively at the 27th National Cross Country Championship held at the Brong Ahafo capital, Sunyani.
 The GAF male team made up of six representatives scored 25 points to win the 12-kilometre race for the men’s division, while the Central Region female team made up of four contestants also scored 10points to win the eight- kilometre female race which had the Sunyani Coronation Park as the starting and finishing points for both races.
 For their prizes, the GAF male team and the Central Region female team received a trophy each and certificates of merit as the champions for the male and female divisions respectively for the competition.
 David Zigah of the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) clocked 39minutes 57seconds to win the individual best male for the race but that could not ensure victory for his team which placed 6th with 111points for the 12km race.
 But young and energetic Elizabeth Bortsoi, 17, and a student of the Besease Senior High School (SHS) in the Ajumako District in the Central Region who received a lot of applause from the sparse crowd that gathered and lined up along the route for the race to the finishing point won the individual best female by clocking 32minutes 21seconds for the eight- kilometre race for the female division and ensured that her team also won the ultimate.
 The Ashanti Region and the Ghana Police Service male teams placed second and third respectively, scoring 45 and 59points respectively and were presented with certificates while Corporal Daniel Lamburum of the GAF and Akuka Williams of Prempeh College in Kumasi clocked 40minutes 14seconds and 40minutes 18seconds respectively for the second and third positions for the individual male categories.
 The Ashanti and Brong Ahafo Regions female teams also took the second and third positions for the female division respectively and they were also presented with certificates while Rita Luonab, 16 and Vivian Febiri, 17, both students of Ghana National Academy SHS in Kumasi clocked 32minutes 48seconds and 32minutes 50seconds respectively to win the second and third positions for the individual female.
 The male teams from Volta, Greater Accra, Brong Ahafo, Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS), Central, Upper West, Northern, Western, Ghana Polytechnic Sports Association (GHAPSA), Ghana National Fire Service, Ghana Prisons Service ,Upper East and Eastern placed 4th,5th , 7th, 8th ,9th ,10th ,11th,12th,13th ,14th , 15th,16th and 17th positions respectively for the men’s race.
 For the female teams, Greater Accra, Volta, Western, Police, GAF, Upper West, Northern, Eastern, Upper East and GHAPSA took the 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th positions respectively for the female race.
The Ghana University Sports Association (GUSA) did not present any team for both the male and female categories for the competition. The competition also did not record any incident.
 The Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, Mr Kwadwo Nyamekye- Marfo, gave the shot for both the female and the male’s race to begin at the main road near the Sunyani Coronation Park as early as 6.30a.m. for the race for the female to begin and 7.15a.m. for the men’s race to start.
The competition was organized by the Ghana Athletics Association (GAA) under the joint patronage of the Minister of Youth and Sports, Ms Akua Sena Dansua, and the Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, Mr Nyamekye-Marfo, and sponsored by the National Sports Council (NSC), Voltic Mineral Water and Blue Skies natural fruit juice.
 Among the dignitaries who witnessed the competition were Dr. Francis Dodoo, Chairman of the GAA, Dr. S.L. Lamptey, Vice-Chairman of GAA, Dr. Prince Pambo, Medical Director NSC and a member of GAA and Mr. George OSAFO Agyei, the Secretary General of GAA.
 In a brief remark, Mr. Nyamekye-Marfo commended the organisers for choosing Brong Ahafo to host the competition and all for a successful competition.
 He congratulated the teams that won the competition as well as the individual best athletes and urged all the athletes who participated in the competition to continue to train hard and eschew all lifestyles that could affect their performance and also stay away from drugs.

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