KOCHI: Hosts and defending champions Ernakulam are all set to continue their hold on the Kerala State Schools Athletics Championship as the 55th edition of the meet gets underway at the Maharaja’s College Stadium here on Thursday.Overall champions for the past seven years, Ernakulam is banking on athletes from the Kothamangalam schools, Mar Basil HSS and St George’s HSS, along with the Sacred Heart HSS, Thevara, to retain their title. The host team also boasts of trainees from Mercy Kuttan Athletics Academy, who will be representing the Sacred Heart.“The team has enough talented athletes to retain the overall championship for the district. We expect better performances from last year as we have athletes with good records in tracks, jumps and throws. The environment is right for Ernakulam to retain its title,” said Olympian Mercy Kuttan, who will be accompanying the team as a coach. Meanwhile, the Mar Basil and St George’s coaches also expressed optimism that the hosts would be able to meet the challenge from other districts successfully.“Mar Basil’s strength is mainly in the throws and the track events. We are coming with 63 athletes, including 30 boys and 33 girls,” said coach P I Babu. National junior 100 m silver medallist Jijin Vijayan and Anilda Thomas are participating in the 100m and 200m sprints. Sandra Sathyan in the junior girls sprints, Jibin Reji and Neenu Thomas in the javelin throw, Amal Raghav and Nikhila Manohar in the discus throw, and Vishnu V Sabu and Jithu Baby in the 400m hurdles are among the leading contenders from the school. Mar Basil is the reigning champion among schools, having wrested the title from St George’s HSS by half-a-point last year at Thiruvananthapuram. The St George’s team, which held the champion school’s title for five successive years prior to the last edition, is keen to get back atop the standings. “Pole vault and hurdles, apart from other track events, are our main strengths and we are well prepared to assure points between 100 and 125,” said coach Raju Paul. Nizamuddeen and Anas Babu in the junior 100 m hurdles, Anila S Balan in the 400m hurdles, Anand Raj in the junior sprints, Melbi Manual in the senior girls pole vault, Gopika Narayanan and Reshma Ravindran in the junior girls pole vault, are expected to be among the medal winners from the school. For SH, Nimitha Mathew in the 400 m, Oliva Maria Thomas in the 800m, Bright Devasya in the long jump and Lekha Unni in the 600 m, are expected to finish on the podium.
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