Beppe Grillo and Claire Azzopardi notched their first honours of the season winning the 60m sprint during the Athletics Malta Winter Championship held in Marsa.
The shortest track distance proved to be very popular in this event, with over 90 athletes making their way from the heats to the final. Among the men, Pembroke’s Grillo took highest place on the podium in 6.86s, ahead of Jacob El Aida Chaffey of Żurrieq (7.07s) and Kurt Zahra (Rush AC) in 7.19.
The women’s race proved to be incredibly close with Pembroke’s Claire Azzopardi claiming gold in 7.75s, just 0.02s ahead of Rush’s Thea Parnis Coleiro, with Alessia Cristina third in 8.05s.
Parnis Coleiro later went one better, taking top spot in the 300m in 40.66s. Among the men, Pembroke’s Graham Pellegrini did not disappoint as he took home top spot in 35.16s, despite a strong challenge by young teammate Nick Bonett.
Athlete of the year Janet Richard began the year where she left off claiming gold in the 600m, with the Pembroke athlete winning in 1:31.43, a national record on the distance. However, it was Mireya Bugeja who notched her name in the history books in the same race, placing second in 1:34.70 and achieving an Under 20 and Under 23 national record. On the same distance it was Rush’s Isaac Bonnici who dominated the field in a fast time of 1:21.04 ahead of Luke Camilleri, second with a respectable 1:25.19.
The 1000m race was a nail-biter till the very end with Michael Debattista Segond winning in 2:34.40, a mere half a second ahead of Jean Paul Debono. In the same race, a remarkable performance for young Matteo Gauci, whose 2:42.93 means a national best in the Under 16 category for the La Salle athlete.
Among noteable performances in the field, Mireya Cassar managed to secure a remarkable 50m in the hammer senior event, while Bianca Shoemake continues her progression in the sport throwing 53.59m in the 3kg category.
In the long jump, Zurrieq’s Romeo Flavio won the men’s long jump in 6.39m, while Thea Parnis Coleiro added a third medal to her day’s tally winning gold with a 5.24m jump.
