The 2023 Lautoka/ Yasawa Zone Coca-Cola Games championship at Lautoka’s Churchill Park saw 816 athletes from 13 schools competing in the two-day event.
This was revealed by the competition director Avinesh Chand.
“The weather is good for athletics and it will be a contributing factor in the athletes’ performance,” said Chand.
He added they have kick-started day one of the competition on a positive note.
“The crowd is also pouring in good numbers and overall it is a very good sporting atmosphere.”
The St Thomas High School PEMAC head of department said he was hoping to see some records tumble in both the track and field events.
“Since it is a working day, we were expecting less crowd in the stadium, however, just by looking at the pavilion, I could see the numbers are very good.
“Natabua High School and Jasper Williams High School are the defending champions in the boys and girls division respectively and they will give their best to defend their titles.”
Chand said for school students in uniform the tickets were priced at $2 and for students in coloured clothing, it was $3 while for adults it is $5.
“We have far travelling schools as well who are making a return to the competition, with Yasawa North Secondary School returning after a lapse of two years and Muaira Methodist College returning to the games after one year.
Meanwhile, Netani Volitiviti of Natabua High School clocked a time of 11.08 seconds to claim the blue ribbon event while in the girls’ division, Jasper Williams High School’s Peniana Koroiwaqalevu recorded 13.48 seconds to claim the 100m event.
Participating schools: Natabua High School, Jasper Williams High School, Drasa Secondary School, Ba Provincial Freebird Institute, Lautoka Andhra Sangam College, Lautoka Muslim College, Tilak High School, Central College, St Thomas High School, Pandit Vishnu Deo Memorial College, Muaira Methodist College, Yasawa High School, Yasawa North Secondary School.
