The Akenten Appiah-Menka University of Skills of Skills Training and Entrepreneurial Development (AAMUSTED) put up an impressive showing at the 25th Ghana Universities Sports Association (GUSA) Cross Country Competition at the University of Health and Allied Science (UHAS) in Ho, Volta Region on August 13, 2022.
Even as a debutant in the competition, the AAMUSTED teams shrug off the keen challenge posed by very experienced teams from other universities to annex the impressive fourth and sixth positions in the respective male and female competitions. To crown an already successful outing, AAMUSTED’s Noah Womberiche emerged seventh (7th) in the male competition and was awarded a cash prize for his sterling performance.
About ten (10) Ghanaian universities participated in the ten-kilometer race, organised in line with the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) rules. The universities were required to present a minimum of eight male and eight female athletes for the respective competitions. The best six males and females were scored to determine the position of a university in the competitions. However, if any university presented less than the required number of athletes, it would have been allowed to do so only on a non-scoring basis.
The performance of AAMUSTED in the competition was highly commendable, according to its Coach, Mr. Julius Baba Apidogo. “To come here for the first time and to do better than the likes of KNUST and University of Development Studies (UDS), especially in the male competition, is no mean achievement for us,” he said. He singled out Mr. Womberiche for praise for emerging as the only AAMUSTED athlete to complete the competition among the best ten at the seventh position.
AAMUSTED was fourth in the male competition, slumping only to the University of Ghana, Legon, who was first, the University of Education, Winneba (UEW), second, and the University of Cape Coast (UCC), third. Coach Apidogo observed that the teams from UG, UEW, and UCC, for instance, had experienced professional athletes, some already representing Ghana at various international competitions. Others from those teams also already had several appearances at the GUSA competition, hence their better performances.
The University had competed, hoping to win some medals and, at least, a trophy to announce itself on the big stage as a force to reckon with regarding university sports in Ghana. Even without a medal from the Ho competition, the Chairman of the University Amalgamated Sports Club, Mr. Alfred Morrison, said the University had picked a lot of positives from the competition, which would help them to prepare for the main GUSA games in November 2022.
He observed that the challenging nature of the competition route (a naturally loose surface unbearably winding with drops, slides, and sharp-rock riddled) contributed to the relatively tamed performance of the AAMUSTED team. “We shall be ready for the next competition,” he said, describing the ten-kilometer route at UHAS as a serious challenge that required adeptness and determination by the athletes to surmount.
The other universities represented at the competition were the University of Mines and Technology (UMaT), University of Energy and Natural Resources (UENR), S. D. Dombo University of Business and Integrated Development Studies (SDD-UBIDS), and C. K. Tandem University of Technology and Applied Sciences (CKT-UTAS).
