Kalinga dazzles with record breaking 200M

Sprinter Kalinga Kumarage set the track on fire with a sizzling run in the 200m, clocking 20.71 seconds to shatter the meet record, as well as the Army Athletics record, at the Sugathadasa Stadium on Monday.
Kumarage, who is attached to the Electronic and Mechanical Engineering Regiment (SLEME), missed the Sri Lanka record by a mere 0.03 seconds. He is now ranked third among the top rung athletes, with Vinoj Suranjaya (20.68 sec) and Sugath Thilakarathne (20.69) being the only athletes to have a better time than him.
D.K. Wijerathne of Gemunu Watch finished second, clocking a personal best of 21.11 seconds. 100m Sri Lanka record holder Himasha Eashan finished third in 21.12 seconds. Wind readings were not included in the results sheet.
A total of five new meet records were set on the first day, including three Army Athletics records.
In the morning, Kaushalya Madushani clocked the third best time by a Sri Lankan female athlete in the 400m hurdle. Hailing from Kurunegala, the former Asian Junior Silver Medalist had been injury prone, which she overcame towards the end of the year, to clock an impressive 59.68 seconds. She shattered her own meet record, as well as the Army Athletics record of 59.79 seconds set by V.A. Kusumawathi in 2005. Her time is only behind Sri Lankan record holder Christine Sonali Merril and Eranga Dulakshi.
Shayama Dulani, who won the National Championship, National Sports Festival, as well as Defense Services Athletics Championship, was beaten into second place by Madushani.
High Jumper Ushan Thiwanka, who missed out from the Asian Games due an official blunder, cleared 2.22m to erase the meet record of 2.21m held by Nalin Rathnasiri in 2010.
Olympian Sumedha Ranasinghe continued his good form throwing a distance of 78.89m to set a new meet record in the javelin throw.
Sachini Perera was the only participant in the pole vault event. She leapt 3.41m to set a new meet record.
The men’s triple jump produced an upset, with record holder Sanjaya Jayasinghe beaten into third place by youngster Greshan Dhananjaya, who won the event with a leap of 15.72m.
In the men’s category, SLEME is leading the tally with 123 points, while Artillery Regiment (SLA) is just behind with 118 points.
In the women’s category, 4th Army Women’s Corps is the clear leader with 107 points.
No Rumeshika in 200m
South Asian Gold Medalist Rumeshika Rathnayaka did not participate in the championship, even though she represented Army and won both the 100m and 200m at the Defence Services Athletics Championship. With no Rumeshika in the sprinting field, none of the 200m runners could go under 25 seconds, which was won by T.A. Muthukumarini clocking 25.2 seconds.

Results
Men
5000M: 1. R.M.S. Pushpakumara (SLA) 14:26.68 sec, 2. K. Shanmugeswaren (SLA) 14:27.05 sec, 3. M.U. Kumar (SLAC) 14:34.18 sec
Javelin Throw: 1. Sumedha Ranasinghe (SLEME) 78.89m, 2. Sampath Ranasinghe (SLASC) 75.21m, 3. A.P. Lakmal (SLLI) 71.82m
High Jump: 1. Ushan Thiwanka (SLASC) 2.22m, 2. I.U. Kumara (SLLI) 2:06m, 3. S.B. Senarathne (SLA) 2:06m
200M: 1. Kalinga Kumarage (SLEME) 20.71 sec, 2. D.K. Wijerathne (GW) 21.11 sec, 3. Himasha Eashan 21.12 sec
Triple Jump: 1. Greshan Dhananjaya (SLEME) 15.72m, 2. S.N. Ahamed (SLEME) 15.44m, 3. Sanjaya Jayasinghe (SA) 15.39m
Women
Discus Throw: 1. E.P. Nilmini (4(v)SLAWC) 34.70m, 2. A.M. Dilrukshi (1(v)SLAWC) 34.35m, 3. U.S. Senevirathne (7(v)SLAWC) 23.12m
400m Hurdles: 1. Kaushalya Madushani (RHQ SLAWC) 59.68 sec, 2. Shayama Dulani (3(v)SLAWC) 01:01.43 sec, 3. N.D. Wickramasinghe (4(v)SLAWC)1:02.00 sec
Long Jump: 1. Sarangi Silva (RHQ SLAWC) 6.05m, 2. A.D. Dhananjani (5(v)SLAWC) 5.67m, 3. S.S. Weerawardhana SLSC (WC) 5.39m
200M: 1. T.A. Muthukumarini (SLSC(WC) 25.2 sec, 2. Ruwanthi Fernandez (3(v) SLAWC 25.6 sec, 3. K.S. Jayasinge 4(v) SLAWC) 25.7 sec
10,000M: 1. M.H. Madhushika (4(v) SLAWC) 38.03.39 sec, 2. N.M. Nandasena (4(V) SLAWC) 38:30.29 sec, 3. K.K. Kumari (2(V) SLAWC) 39.15.54 sec
Pole Vault: 1. Sachini Perera (SLSA(WC)) 3.41m