The Kenya Hockey Union teams Kenyatta University (KU) women team Titans and United States International University (USIU) men team were crowned the champions of Kenya University Sports Federation (KUSF) as curtains come down , Friday December 19th at the UOE grounds.
Played in round robin, Titans won four, drawing one match to seal the title as they seek to compete at the KUSF play-offs come match next year.
The coach Richard Odongo said that they went for a win after finishing second for many years.
“Today’s victory was good after finishing second for many years. This has come at the right time since we are preparing for KUSF play-offs come next year in March,” said odongo.
The collected 13 points ahead of Jomo Kenyatta University Agriculture and technology (JKUAT) and USIU coming third.
In men, USIU amassed 12 points in a round robin encounter to take the title ahead of KU with 9 and hosts completing top three on 6. Kibabii managed 4th position with a point as Moi tailed with zero.
Angela Miriam produced a dominant performance to win the women’s 10,000m title at the ongoing Kenya University Sports Federation (KUSF) national games.
The Maseno University athlete clocked 43:33.76 to clinch gold, showing grit and endurance despite challenging windy conditions at the venue.
Kibabii University’s Daisy Cheptoo settled for second place in 45:54.49, while Anastacia Lubala of Maseno completed the podium in 46:24.50.
Miriam, a fourth-year Education student at Maseno University, said the victory was a major boost to her athletics journey.
“I’m, happy to have won at the national level. The weather was windy but this qin motivates me to work harder in the future.” Said Miriam
On track, Evanson Kipkirui emerged the winner in the 5,000m men stopping the clock at 15:30.14, narrowly edging out Enock Kipruto to second in 15:31.61 with Fredrick Juma coming third at 15:52.61.
Kibabii’s Rooney Wayne sprinted to victory in 10.43 seconds, followed by Abel Mzee (10.76) and Donald Amonde (11.00) as KU’s Elizabeth Wekesa won the women’s title in 13.00 seconds, ahead of Saline Adhiambo and Catherine Kabona.
In football men, reigning champions KU’ Hard Nuts will be facing off with the University of the Eldoret (UOE) at the final tomorrow.
After playing to a barren draw in the opening fixture on Tuesday in pool A encounter, the two nemesis will be taking on each other at the finals following their dominance at the semifinals played at Chebisaas Boys fields.
Joshua Wamanya scored a solitary goal in the Hard Nuts 1-0 win against Egerton University on pitch while hosts UOE defeated the University of Nairobi 3-0 to seal the final slots.
In one of the tough semifinal, KU failed to find the net until the 67th minute when Wamanya’s right foot shot sealed the victory.
Captain Austin Tandasi said that their target has always been to play at the final and retain the title for the 5th time in a row.
“We are ready to seal our 5th title in a row. I came to this school when we were champions and I want to leave as champions under my leadership. We are used to winning and this should not be an exemption,” said Tandasi.
But the hosts’ coach Marvin Otieno is optimistic that he will end the dominance of KU after enjoying home advantage.
“As a coach, I used different strategy on different teams. I look at loopholes and capitalize on them to create chances of victory, the same way I did today. We had to give our opponents time to play tiktak but for us, we wait for chances and when they come, we utilize,” said.
Haron Musambai scored the first goal for UOE in 32nd minute for a 1-0 lead in the first half. Elton walumbe doubled the score in the 46th minute and Calvin Ekise sealing the 3-0 victory.
In volleyball men, champions Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology (MMUST) will tackle The Nairobi University (UON) following their victories at the semis.
MMUST edged out JKUAT 3-2 (25-16,28-26,19-25,24-26,15-11) while UON beat Moi in straight sets of 17-25,27-29,20-25
