By Our Correspondent
It was a mix of new and old champions as the national Kenya Secondary Schools Sports Association (KSSSA) Term One games came to an end in Mombasa.
The thrilling event was jointly hosted by Shanzu TTC and Shimo la Tewa High school.
Karandich Girls from Rift Valley emerged the new handball champions after ousting former national champions Moi Girls Kamusinga from Western.
Nairobi’s Buruburu Girls snatched the girls’ basketball title from former three times winner Kaya Tiwi of Coast.
Upper Hill from Nairobi scooped the rugby 7s trophy after defeating defending champions Laiser Hill from Rift valley in the finals.
This year’s rugby 15s title went with Kakamega High School who thrashed Dagoretti High 18-11 in a tightly contested encounter.
St. Peter’s Mumias from Western finished third in the 7s while Eastern’s Kangaru School finished third in the 15s.
In the basketball finals encounter between Buruburu and Kaya Tiwi ended in a razor thin margin of 43 – 41. But it was a sweet revenge for the new champions as in their group matches Kaya Tiwi had triumphed over Buruburu Girls in a 53- 49 win.
Giant Laiser Hill Academy won the men basketball to retain their title after beating their strong rivals Dagoretti High 69-52.
Handball queens Karandich Girls had a smooth sail throughout the tournament. They beat the defending champion Kamusinga Girls 17 -13 in the finals to take the crown.
In men’s handball, Western’s Kimilili Boys retained their title after stopping the favourites Mbooni Boys in their tracks 35-21 in the finals. Their player Dancan Kimutai was declared the best.
“We were prepared. We knew it was going to be a tough competition but like the true barbarians that we are, we fought to the end,” said Kakamega’s David Kamau after their encounter with Dagoretti.
Coast region performed exceptionally well in swimming as they produced the best swimmers in both boys and girls categories. The best swimmers this year were Stephen Ndegwa and Bianchi Maria.
Coast emerged position one with 1002 points followed by Nairobi with 979 points. Central region came in a distant third with 501 points.
Rift Valley dominated all the field and track events as well as the cross country to emerge tops in athletics after bagging a total of 23 medals (10 gold, 8 silver and 5 bronze).
It was followed by Nyanza that netted 14 medals (7gold, 4 silver and 4 bronze).
Western finished third with a total of 12 medals (1gold, 7 silver and 4 bronze).
Clement Kiplagat from Soliat Secondary school in Kericho County was declared the best boy while the best girl was Beatrice Odero of Kowuar Secondary in Homa Bay County.
In junior men cross country (8 km), Luke Shatukei of Chewoyet Secondary won gold after clocking an impressive 00:24:43:1. He was followed by Shadrack Kiplagat of Topsuwerwa Secondary at 00:24:47:5(silver) and Felix Korir of Chewoyet at24:56:8 (bronze).
In junior women cross country race (6 km), Feliciana Kanda of Kapsiat School grabbed gold while Irine Chepkorir of Biririet School took silver and Ann Maasisho of Saramek Secondary settled for bronze.
It was a battle of saints in the girls’ hockey finals as St. Cecilia Misikhu from humiliated St. John’s Kaloleni 2-1 to successfully defend their title.
The men’s hockey final was between defending champions St. Anthony Kitale from Rift Valley and veterans Friends School Kamusinga from Western. The tight encounter was decided on penalty flicks after a 2-2 draw at full time with St. Athony Kitale carrying the day once again with 3-1 win to retain their title for the third time in a row.
Overall in all disciplines, Rift Valley was ranked the best region with 106 points followed closely by Western (100 points) and Nyanza (80 points).
Others region performed as follows: Nairobi (74 points), Eastern (64 points), Central (62 points), Coast (60 points) and North Eastern (6 points).
KSSSA National Secretary David Ngugi announced that Term Two games which include football, volleyball and racket games will be held in Kisumu in August.
Ngugi lauded the government’s efforts in effecting the digital registration of school pupils through which he said has made it easier for games officials to deal with the perennial problem of some schools fielding non learners to get undue advantage over other competing teams.
“When I moved around the pitches, I was impressed that I was able to see genuine learners participating in the games. This was a big break from the past where we grappled with fake players,” said Ngugi.
