Boys participate in the 200-m track event at the eighth National Sports Meet of the Association of Schools for the Indian School Certificate (ASISC) at the JRD Tata Sports Complex. Picture by Bhola Prasad

Jamshedpur, Nov. 7: Kerala secured 61 points today to emerge on the top even as 15 new records were created on the opening day of the eighth National Sports Meet of the Association of Schools for the Indian School Certificate (ASISC), 2004, underway at the JRD Tata Sports Complex.

Jharkhand and Bihar came second with 49 points, while Andhra Pradesh had to remain content at the third slot with 39 points.

The meet, organised by the Kerala Samajam Model School, was inaugurated yesterday.

New meet records were made by Natasha Machado of Maharashtra in the junior girls? 800-m, Subhish S. of Kerala in the senior boys? discus throw, Saniesh V.P. of Kerala in senior boys? high jump, Debjani Patra of Jharkhand and Bihar, Zanna Alex of Kerala, Sushmita Soreng of Orissa and Anshika Singh of Uttar Pradesh in junior girls? 3-km walk, Pooja Singh of Uttar pradesh in senior girls? 3-km walk, Preetham Reddy of Andhra Pradesh in junior boys? discus throw and Juan L. of Kerala in senior boys? triple jump.

New yardsticks were also set by P. Paul of Kerala in junior boys? high jump, Kashif Mallik of Jharkhand and Bihar in junior high jump, Lorainne D? Costa of Kerala in senior girls? 200-m, Deepika Ramchandra of Karnataka in junior girls? 200-m and Biswajeet Maharana of Orissa, in junior boys? 1,500-m.

However, Kerala athletes dominated the track, jump and throw events and the state finished day-one with 18 medals ? eight gold, six silver and five bronze. Jharkhand and Bihar also finished with 18 medals ? five gold, seven silver and six bronze ? and Andhra Pradesh won 12 ? six gold, four silver and two bronzes.

Bina Narayanan won the first gold for Kerala in the senior girls? 800-m. Later, Subhish S. claimed the top slot in the senior boys? discus throw, while Saniesh V.P. won gold in high jump. Juan bagged the gold in the senior boys? triple jump.

However, this was just the beginning for the Kerala team. Nitin John topped the short put and Paul P. won the high jump gold in the junior boys? category. Deepu A. and Lorraine D? Costa of Kerala topped the senior boys? and girls? 200-m events.

The silvers were won by A. Mathew Stanley in senior boys? 800-m, P. Paul in junior boys? triple jump, Z. Alex in junior girls? 3-km walk, Ashwin D. in senior boys? 110-m hurdles and M.M. Joseph in senior girls? 100-m hurdles.

Bronze medals were won by R.R. Nicholas in senior girls? high jump, N.J. Gibson in senior girls? 3-km walk, Juan L. senior boys? 110-m hurdles, B. Narayanan in senior girls? 100-m hurdles and M. Roy in senior girls? 200-m.

The Jharkhand and Bihar team also put up a good show. While Praveen Kumar won the junior boys? 800-m, Gaganpreet Kaur won gold in the senior girls? high jump. Other top slots were grabbed by Debjani Patra in senior 3-km walk and Anjali Kumari in junior 100-m hurdles. Kajal Kumar won gold in the junior girls? high jump.