New Year, New Course, same results from the defending champions of the National Sports Cross Country race for the Central and Ashanti regions teams.
The Central Region clinched their 2nd straight victory in the 2020 event on Saturday afternoon with a dominating performance during the race.
The team had its first two runners crossing the finish line for the second year in a row.
The team was led by individual state champion Aziz Mohammad in the male category and he won with a time of 37:28:44 secs in a distance of about 10 kilometers, from the Mando Methodist School Park to the University of Education, Winneba Ajumaku campus.
Ramata Abdulia crossed the finishing line with a time of 46:37:48sec to win the girls division, with Sherifa Moro from the Ashanti and Belinda Segbor from the Upper West Region also emerging as first and second runners-up respectively.
The 16-year-old Ramata was the Best Female Athlete in the 2019 edition and was just unstoppable in 2020.
However, it was Ashanti Region which was crowned victors after four of their athletes placed 2nd, 4th, 5th and 7th.
In the male category, Basit Afful and Malik Yakubu from the Central and Ashanti regions also emerged as first and second runners-up respectively.
The winners took home cash prices of GH¢2,000 each while the first and second runners-up also received GH¢1,000 and GH¢500 respectively.
Copies of the book ‘Rising from the Farmhouse’ authored by Prof. Peter Twumasi, the Director General of the National Sports Authority, was presented to each of the athletes.
With the exception of Bono East, Western North and North East regions, all the regions took part in the event with each region presenting at least six male and female teams totaling 192 athletes participating in this year’s event.
By Daniel Nana Kwame Yeboah|3news.com|Ghana