The final salute to a highly successful year of athletics was given by a resounding showing at the annual Pembroke Athleta Track and Field Meeting, now in its 11th year, which was held last week.
And what a show it was! No fewer than 243 athletes from the age of seven up to 47, signed up for an enjoyable afternoon of events .
The highlights of the meeting were the national records attained before the official end of the season.
Up-and-coming youngster Mark Anthony Farrugia, who set a new 600m record last summer, added that for the 300m in 40.06 seconds.
The other records befell the host club Pembroke, which, by sheer numbers alone, 123, dwarfed the presence of the other clubs.
The 60m sprint for boys aged 10 to 11 fell to Clayton Sheldon who stopped the clock on 8.5 seconds (hand-timed).
A few minutes earlier, established athlete Charlene Attard, medal winner in the Andorra GSSE, equalled her outdoor 60m record of 7.88 seconds against a headwind of 1.8 metres per second.
The last national record was that by Francesca Cauchi in the Discus for girls aged 12-13. Her throw of 20.74 metres was by far better than anything covered by her opponents.
In the other clashes, the Starmax girls practically ran away with all the short distance events while Pembroke were more prominent in the jumps and throws. AS Libertas, St Patrick's and Allcomers Aloysians also had their say despite competing with modest squads.
Pembroke Athleta were more dominant in the events for the males, but schools and clubs like De La Salle, Savio College, Zurrieq Wolves, Allcomers Aloysians and St Patrick's took some events along with main challengers Starmax.
Athletes' preparations
Some events were also aimed at gauging the preparation of athletes aspiring to represent Malta at the World Indoor Championships in Moscow and the Commonwealth Games in Australia.
Darren Gilford, in the 60m, recorded 6.98s in a strong headwind of 3.3mps. In the 200m, Mario Bonello was not much satisfied with his 22.90, again racing into the wind.
Revelation of the year Diane Borg won effortlessly the 60m girls' youth and again the 200m while Therese Mallia gave notice that more can be expected of her in the sprints.
Attard was also successful in the 200m and her team-mate Lisa Bezzina made winning the 3,000m look easy. Andy Grech once again cleared six metres in the long jump while his sister Julie Anne and Tamara Vella were equally impressive in the same event for cadets.