P. Sagadevan (AM Jain) created the lone meet record of the day in the men’s section of the A.L. Mudaliar athletics meet, which commenced at the Nehru Stadium here on Sunday.
The 19-year-old finished first in 5000m with a time of 14 minutes 59.6 seconds. He overtook favourite B. Ezhilnilavan of Loyola, under whose name the record existed in the first place, in the last lap. In fact, Ezhilnilavan had set (15.24) the record in the same meet last year.
A 1500m runner, Sagadevan chose to run for the first time in 5000m for “better job prospects” and came out on top surprising one and all. Hailing from Natham, a panchayat town in Dindigul district, Sagadevan’s father is an agricultural labourer while mother is a homemaker.
He had won gold in 1500m in the Senior State championship in Coimbatore this year and trains at the St. Joseph’s Prime Sports Academy.
The results: Men: 5000m: 1. P. Sagadevan (AM Jain) 14:59.6s (NMR) (OR: B. Ezhilnilavan (15.24 in 2008-09), 2. B. Ezhilnilavan (Loy) 15:08.6 (BMR), 3. R. Santhosh Kumar (Loy) 15:48.5; 20km walk: 1. A. Rajesh (AM Jain) 2:07.15, 2. G. Surender (AM Jain) 2:18.10, 3. K.N. Prabin (Loy) 2:24.34; 400m Hurdles: 1. Blumenrafan Sathya (Loy) 55.4, 2. A. Yogesh (JHA Agarsen) 55.6, 3. P. Manthaichamy (AM Jain) 58; Pole vault: 1. Samuthra Pandi (MCC) 4m, 2. R. Settu (Loy) 3.8, 3. T. Pradeesh (AM Jain) 3.5; 800m: 1. G.R. Dhiliban (Loy) 2:00.3, 2. T. Nethaji (AM Jain) 2:00.5, 3. N. Padmanabhan (AM Jain) 2:00.7; Triple jump: 1. A. Anish Kumar (Loy) 14.8m, 2. D. Arivu Selvam (Pach) 14.47, 3. K.B. Manu (Loy) 14.32; Javelin throw: 1. H. Michael Justine (AM Jain) 58m, 2. T. Pawanstin Jacob (Loy) 56.97, 3. C. Arivoli (Loy) 56.2; Hammer throw: 1. Jemirenswick Seelan (MCC) 35.71m, 2. S. Sarath Kumar (Loy) 33.56, 3. Joseph Perm Chandran (MCC) 33.28.
Women: 5000m: 1. K. Geetha (MOP) 20:59.1, 2. Megala (Ethiraj) 21:02, 3. C. Mahalakshmi (Ethiraj) 21:58.6; 5km walk: 1. C. Mahalakshmi (Ethiraj) 31:14.4, 2. Sophia (MOP Vaishnav) 33:48.6, 3. P. Gayadhri Devi (MOP Vaishnav) 34:46.7; 400m Hurdles: 1. R. Ramya (MOP) 1:04.0, 2. V. Hani (MOP) 1:04.7, 3. Renuka (Ethiraj) 1:07.0; Pole Vault: 1. S. Saranya (MOP) 3.5m, 2. S. Preethi (MOP) 2.1, 3. Anjammal (JBAS) 1.7; 800m: 1. T. Renuka (Ethiraj) 2:13.3, 2. M. Selvi (MOP) 2:23.1, 3. Sophia (MOP) 2:35.2.
High jump: 1. Anitha Shree (Ethiraj) 1.53m, 2. T. Kalaivani (MOP) 1.5, 3. S. Rama (JBAS) 1.4; Triple jump: 1. Radhika (Ethiraj) 12.03m, 2. Melane Mary Meyers (MOP) 11.49, 3. T. Kalaivani (MOP) 11.46; Shot put: 1. N. Sangeetha (SDNB) 10.56m, 2. U. Indhumathi (Pach-Kancheepuram) 8.69, 3. V. Iswarya (MOP) 8.61; Hammer throw: 1. R. Muthu Selvi (MOP) 41.72m, 2. V. Ishwarya (MOP) 41.58, 3. R.S. Rajarajeswari (SDNB) 21.99.
