Western rule first day of competition

What you need to know:

  • Mandera had 300 of its students sent home, forcing the institution to send a team of only 10 in the Eastern region championships at Meru TTC last week, out of the planned number of 30.
  • The organisation’s chairman, James Muguna urged the teams to use the event to cultivate cohesion and good sportsmanship.

Western region dominated various field events to bag 60 points as this year's Kenya Teachers Colleges Sports Association athletics championships gunned off Tuesday at St Augustine Eregi Teachers College.

Eregi women’s team collected 27 points, while their male counterparts also led in various categories to walk away with 33 points.

Defending champions Rift Valley stayed second with 50, while Nairobi are third on 38 points, followed by Nyanza (18), Central (15), and Eastern (13). Coast were trail on nine points as at end of the first day of competition.

Boaz Kisaka of Nairobi who was the fastest in men’s 100 metres heats, timing 11.3 seconds to win to qualify for Wednesday’s finals.

Central region's Joshua Moseti won the other semi-final heat and will line up in the final of the race which has two representatives each from Nyanza, Rift Valley and Nairobi, while Central and Western have one each.

In the women's 100m contest, Valary Kutosi timed 13.2 seconds to emerge the fastest, followed by teammate Wekesa Bamvilla (13.5), and Asumpta Mulwa (13.6) of Nairobi to set up what promises to be an entertaining final Wednesday.

The event has attracted over 600 athletes from teachers training colleges around the country.

The competitions come barely a week after 3,265 students admitted to 27 teachers training colleges with low entry grades in October were kicked out after Term Two, affecting competitiveness at the championship.

Before the move, enrollment in the 27 teacher colleges countrywide had declined over the years, with a sharp decrease from 21,894 in 2017 to the current 18,795.

Kenya Teachers Colleges Sports Association Secretary General Paul Maina said the most affected regions were Mandera, Kitui, and Garissa where some students who had already made the teams were ejected.

Mandera had 300 of its students sent home, forcing the institution to send a team of only 10 in the Eastern region championships at Meru TTC last week, out of the planned number of 30.

The organisation’s chairman, James Muguna urged the teams to use the event to cultivate cohesion and good sportsmanship.