Ashanti Region Schools Athletics Champs: St. Louis SHS, Prempeh College reign supreme
St. Louis Senior High School (Girls) and Prempeh College (Boys) emerged as champions at the 2024 Ashanti Region Schools & Colleges Super-Zonal Athletics Championships at the Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi.
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This year’s event, the most attended in the post-COVID-19 era, received significant support from W Sports Consult, which provided medals and other athletics equipment, including a landing mat.
St. Louis asserted their dominance at the two-day extravaganza, led by the remarkable performances of star sprinter Aisha Ibrahim, who bade farewell to high school athletics in breath-taking style. Ibrahim's stellar run saw her clinch an impressive six gold medals in the 100 metres, 200 metres, 1,000 metres medley; 4x400 metres, and 4x200 metres races, with an additional silver in the 4x100 metres relay.
The team's prowess extended to field events, with Mariam Yussif securing victories in Shot Put (11.12 metres) and Discus (31.26 metres) disciplines. This feat marks St. Louis' second victory in the competition's history since their initial triumph in 2006, with T.I Ahmadiyya (114 points), Kumasi Anglican (95pts), Osei Kyeretwie (94pts), and Yaa Asantewaa Girls’ (79.50pts) rounding out the top five.
Prempeh College showcased an outstanding overall performance, dominating both sprint and distance events to accumulate 142 points. The team secured victories in the 4x400m and 4x100m relays, as well as first and second-place finishes in javelin. Additionally, they claimed second place in the 4x200m, 200m, and 800m races, along with a third-place finish in the 1500m race. In the
Boys category, the top five included Opoku Ware School (123 points), T.I Ahmadiyya (91.5pts), Osei Kyeretwie (75pts), and Antoa SHS (35pts).
Several records were broken or equalled during the championships. Dennis Appiah of OWASS set two competition records. His 13.71 seconds in the 110m hurdles final obliterated the previous record of 13.84 seconds set in 2018 by Seidu Baba of Jachie Pramso SHS.
He again stormed to a record-breaking 52.70 seconds in the 400m hurdles, replacing the existing record of 52.94 seconds set in 2018 by T.I. Ahmadiyya’s Evans Donkor.
Another OWASS boy, Prince Adu Gyasi, also set a new record in the high jump competition after clearing the bar at 2.06 metres to shatter the previous mark of 2.03 metres in the name of Kelvin Adu of Prempeh College since 2019.
Other standout performances came from Evans Gyan of Antoa SHS who overcame adversity to equal the six-year pole vault record set by Ali Yahaya of T.I. Ahmadiyya, set in 2018. Gyan broke his vaulting pole during the eliminators but stayed focused to clear a height of 3.60 metres.
Last year [2023], T. I. Ahmadiyya won the boys' 4x200m race with a record-setting 1.27:54 minutes and the relay team defended their title with a new record time of 1.27:17 minutes.
This year's championships showcased remarkable performances and highlighted the exceptional talent and dedication of student-athletes across Ashanti Region schools and colleges.
