Benedictines triumph at Saints Quadrangular Athletic Meet 2024
View(s):The much awaited annual athletics competition among the four leading Catholic Boys Schools in Sri Lanka, the Saints Quadrangular Athletic Meet, was held at the Sugathadasa Stadium earlier this week, with St. Benedict’s College stealing the limelight.
Despite the inclement weather conditions, the Organising Committee did an excellent job in completing the programme successfully with all the trappings of an Olympic Style event. The decision to shift the meet from Bambalapitiya to the Sugathadasa Stadium proved to be the defining factor in the tremendous success of the event. Hats off to the Organising Committee.
St. Benedict’s College proved their overall superiority in track and field beating the second placed St. Peter’s College by a huge margin of 184 points. Their tally of 552 points is the highest ever recorded in this competition. St. Joseph’s College came in third place followed by St. Anthony’s College. In the Old Boys segment, Peterites narrowly beat the Benedictines to continue their stranglehold of the coveted trophy. Adding glamour to the Meet this year was the Invitational Schools Relay Competition in all age segments for both Boys and Girls and also Men and Ladies as well. It was great to see prominent past athletes enthusiastically taking part proudly sporting their respective school colours.
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- Best athlete of the meet – Ananda Prasad Krishandan
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- Bens Under-20 team
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- Bens Under-16 relay team — Senuja, Liyon, Ishan, Sujeshwer
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- Under-14 Bens relay team
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- Under14 200m and 400m gold medalist Sinura Salgado of St. Benedict’s
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- Champion trophy
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- St. Bridget’s Convent team with old girls
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- Chief guest Major General Sylvester Perera
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- Benedictine Ishan Oshada leading Under-16 4x100m relay
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- Under-16 800m and 400m gold medalist Pahasara Gunarathne of St. Benedict’s
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- Under-20 200m and 400m gold medalist Ala Hamthan of St. Benedict’s
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- St. Peter’s College boys with old boys
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- St. Benedict’s College champion team
St. Benedict’s College dominated the entire meet by claiming four age group championships out of the total of five. They won the Under-20, Under-18, Under-16 and Under-14 age categories while St. Peter’s College took the honour of claiming the Under-12 age category.
St. Benedict’s went on to claim the relay championship, while the old boys title went to the St. Peter’s College team. The boys invitational schools relay was won by St. Joseph Vaz College, who edged out Maris Stella College, while the girls relay was won by St. Bridget’s College, who overcame stiff competition from Holy Family Convent. The old boys relay was won by D.S. Senanayake College while its girls’ segment was won by St. Bridget’s College.
The overall championship was claimed by St. Benedict’s College who accumulated 552 points in total, as St. Peter’s College, with 368 points, was placed overall second. St. Peter’s College claimed the Old Boys overall title with 286 points, while St. Benedict’s College finished close at second with 283 points. Ananda Krishendran was adjudged the best performer of the meet for his achievement of 7.02m in the Under-20 Long Jump event.
The chief guest for the event were Old Benedictine, Major General Sylvester Perera, the Commandant of the Sri Lanka Military Academy, Diyatalawa and Mrs. Perera. The vote of thanks was delivered by the head prefect of St. Benedict’s College, Aaron Johnpillai.
The principal sponsor of the meet was Ceylon Can Beverages, makers of Spinner Energy Drinks with its range of products. The platinum sponsors were Nations Trust Bank and George Steuart Health supported by many other corporate sponsors. The Saints Quadrangular Athletics Championship, which celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2025 is bound to grow in strength and popularity in the years to come.