Kochi: Sinju Prakash smashed a meet record in pole vault as Kerala's lead soared on Day Three of the 29th national junior athletics championship in Bengaluru on Thursday.
The Kerala girl who set a record of 3.30 metres last year bettered it by 10 cm and has closed in on V.S.Surekha's national junior record of 3.45. Her teammate Emitha Babu cleared 3m to claim silver.
Kerala relied heavily on its girl power that racked up six more gold medals -three in jumps, two in race walking and one in the glamour event of Under-20 girls 400m, to take a step closer to retaining the title.
The champions, with a massive 322 points, lead nearest rivals Tamil Nadu by over 140 points while Uttar Pradesh and Haryana are left further behind.
Neena K.T. and Sujitha K.R. struck gold in the 5000m and 3,000 race walking events in girls U-18 and U-16 categories respectively.
Long jumpers Jenimol Joy and Athira Surendran finished outside the podium that was dominated by fellow south Indians, especially Tamil girl G.Karthika who leapt an impressive 6.03m in her final attempt for gold.
Selected Results : 1. Shani Shaji, Ker, 3 m; 2.Reshma Raveendran, Ker, 3; 3. Pavithra, Kar, 2.60 5 50 00 00 0m m r ra ac ce e w wa al lk k: : 1.
Neena K. T., Ker, 26:24.69 min; 2. Binsy A. M., Ker, 27:06.15; 3. Priyanka, UP, 28:05.99
G Gi ir rl ls s U Un nd de er r-1 16 6 3 30 00 00 0 m mR RW W: : 1. Sujitha K. R., Ker, 15:43.92 min; 2. Suwarna Kapase, Mah, 15:55.72; 3.Bandhana Patel, UP, 16:51.69 H Hi ig gh h j ju um mp p: : 1. Anju Babu, Ker, 1.60 m; 2. Narzary L., Asm, 1.53; 3. Ritu, Har, 1.50 G Gi ir rl ls s U Un nd de er r-2 20 0 p po ol le e v va au ul lt t: : 1. Sinju Prakash, Ker, 3.40 m; 2. Emitha Babu, Ker, 3 4 40 00 0m m: : 1. Jisha V. V., Ker, 56.94 sec; 2. Iniya P., TN, 57.22; 3. Arunima P. M., Ker, 57.79
