The first day of the ‘Mad Hatter’ month was also witness to the first of the six Aggregate meetings held by Athletics Malta, set to culminate in the national championships.

With the three pre-season meetings over and the athletes to compete in the World Indoors in Valencia, Spain chosen, the intense programme brought together 209 athletes from the cadet to the senior category, competing in 51 events.

Indeed, the enthusiasm of the younger athletes more than made up for the marked absence of senior athletes who, perhaps, take their preparation more seriously and apparently more gradual, in order to peak at a convenient date.

One such athlete is Darren Francis Gilford, Malta’s premier sprinter and a strong hopeful for an outstanding result in the 60m Indoor in Valencia. The other representative at these Games, Martina Xuereb (Starmax), put in good appearances in the 200m – a 25.9 seconds hand timing – and in the 400m (58.3h), the event in which she hopes to register a creditable performance after her experience at the distance in an Indoor Meet in Sheffield earlier in the year.

This first Aggregate moreover provided a new national record (41.24m) in the Discus Women, when Antonella Chouhal, for AS Libertas, once again saw her endeavours bear fruit to better her mark set last year by 49cm.

It was also a good outing for Aloysians Allcomers in the person of Mario Mifsud who managed a good 13.20m in the Open Shot Putt.

The sprints once again proved to be close encounters especially with the up and coming tomorrow’s young female athletes.

At the same time, other performances in the 100 and 200m by Thomas Farrugia (Starmax) and Clayton Sheldon (Pembroke Athleta) respectively, were profoundly outstanding in the lower categories, with wide victory margins.

Among the schools taking part, San Andrea provided the better performers, especially in the jumps, where Chloe Gambin cleared 1.50metres in the vertical and Andrew Cassar Torregiani covering 5.89 metres in the Long Jump and 12.39 in the triple jump. Leah Brinch Iversen was no less conspicuous winning easily the 300m and the 70-metre hurdles, as was Jeremy Borg for Allcomers Aloysians in the 80-metre hurdles event for youth boys and his 5.79 metres clearance in the Long Jump.

A final mention must go for young Nadine Aquilina of Maria Assunta Junior Lyceum Girls, in her first competitive year competing in the Shot Putt. With the 14-year national record standing at 9.58metres, her best effort landing the 3 kg implement a distance of 9.35 metres did not go by unnoticed by the officials supervising this event.