Haryana, with a superior silver count, edged out Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu for the overall title in the seventh National Youth (under-18) athletics championship at the Nehru Stadium here on Sunday.
With Haryana tied with Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu with six golds, its six silvers brought new value to the team. Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu had fewer silver medals.
It was the boys who did the bulk of the work for the title winner. They returned with six gold, five silver and one bronze medal to boost the chances for the team, which enjoyed only the fifth spot in the last edition.
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The three-day meet saw five National records take a beating of which two fell on the final day. And, the record breakers turned out to be Ranjitha Mahanta of Orissa and Durgesh Kumar Pal of Gujarat.
Mahanta, who set a new 100m National mark on the first day, stunned the holiday crowd with yet another record breaking performance in the 200m. Her effort of 24.49s erased the existing National mark of 24.88s set by G. Mounika of Andhra Pradesh last year.
The double record breaker not only took home two gold medals but also the best athlete award. Arjun of Delhi was the best among boys.
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Durgesh Kumar Pal of Gujarat came up with a golden show in the boys' 400m hurdles. The Army Sports Institute youngster, who had recently switched from 800m to 400m, stopped the clock at 51.57s for a new National record. The old record of 53.63s set four years ago stood in the name of Shejil Varghese of Kerala.
The results: Boys: 400m: Durgesh Kumar Pal (Guj) 51.57s (NR); 2. Ajay Kumar Mishra (Guj) 53.20 (BMR); 3. S. Mervin (TN) 54.04. 3,000m: 1. Indrajeet Patel (UP) 8:27.31s; 2. Rahul Kumar Pal (Mah) 8:36.17; 3. Uttara Pal (UP) 8:51.77. Triple jump: 1. S.N. Mohammed Salahuddin (TN) 14.65m; 2. U. Karthik (Ker) 13.14; 3. P.D. Srinivasa Rao (AP) 12.89. Best athlete: Arjun (Del). Overall placing: 1. Haryana, 2. Maharashtra, 3. Uttar Pradesh, 4. Tamil Nadu, 5. Gujarat.
Girls: 200m: 1. Ranjitha Mahanta (Ori) 24.49s (NR); 2. S. Archana (TN) 25.99; 3. K. Ammu (Ker) 26.11. 400m hurdles: 1. M. Sushma (AP) 1:04.08s; 2. R. Anu (Ker) 1:04.50; 3. M. Arpitha (Kar) 1:08.15. High jump: 1. Jinu Maria Manuel (Ker) 1.58m; 2. Sonu (Har) 1.55; 3. Shipu Mondal (WB) 1.50. Pole vault: 1. Sinju Prakash M.K. (Ker) 2.82m; 2. S.M. Shankari (TN) 2.20m. Best athlete: Ranjitha Mahanta. Overall placing: 1. Orissa; 2. Kerala; 3. Tamil Nadu, 4. Maharashtra, 5. West Bengal.
Overall championship: 1. Haryana, 2. Maharashtra, 3. Tamil Nadu.