KOCHI: Two years ago, he was one of the most promising high jumpers in the country. At the 2003 junior National in Shimoga, apart from the high jump gold, Kerala's Freji Jose picked medals in the high hurdles and 100m too.

But after a merry high, life suddenly and surprisingly changed for the Kollam SAI trainee last year. A hamstring injury forced him to take a year's break from athletics. And when he returned, with a new look and longer hair, he was forced to give up the jumps and hurdles and concentrate solely on the sprints. For his legs could not handle all the strain.

On Thursday, at the sixth Junior Federation Cup at the Sacred Heart's College's Lake View Stadium here, the 18-year-old won his maiden 100m gold at the National level. And it was quite an easy one too.

"Giving up all those events was heartbreaking. But this gold is nice," said Freji, a trainee of SAI coach Udayakumar, who was returning to the National circuit after a year's break.

While Freji was running his memorable run, Tamil Nadu's B. Elangumaran won his first high jump gold in junior National circuit.

Strange story

Elangumaran's is a rather strange story. The youngster from Kumbakonam took to high jumping just a year ago when he joined the SDAT Centre in Chennai. He had caught the eyes of the selectors with his height (1.92 m). But even before he won his first gold in the national circuit, he picked a silver medal at an international event in Korea this July.

"It was the Inter-religion Peace Sports Festival and I was part of the 23-member team which went to Korea," said the wiry 18-year-old. He managed a personal best 2.03m there.

Today, the II year B.A. student of Chennai's A.M. Jain College, could not come anywhere close to his personal best on the grass track. But he won the gold rather comfortably.

With the day turning out be bright and sunny, the organisers heaved a sigh of relief. The host was thrilled too, for Kerala was leading the overall championship points table at the end of the first day in the two-day meet for under-20 athletes. However, there were no records today.

The results (finals):

Boys: 100m: 1. Freji Jose (Ker, 10.99 s), 2. S. Arunjith (Ker, 11.17), 3. Hargovind Rai (Mah, 11.18). 400m: 1. V.B. Bineesh (Ker, 48.57 s), 2. S.Bharath (Karn, 49.31), 3. Sunil Kumar (Har, 49.95). 1500m: 1. Sajeesh Joseph (Ker, 4:03.5 s), 2. Sunaram Tiria (Ori, 4:03.8), 3. Veerendra Pratap (UP, 4:05.2). 5000m: 1. Rakesh Kumar (UP, 16:14.7 s), 2. Ganesh Dutt (UP, 16:25.7), 3. Ezhil Nilavan (TN, 16:31.2). 4 x 100m: 1. TN (M. Manikantan, A. Amalanathan, Ram Kumar, Senthil Kumar, 43.3 s), 2. Maharashtra (45.3), 3. Kerala (46.2). 110m hurdles: 1. Amith Yadav (Karn, 15.35 s), 2. Dhanraj Jogi (Mah, 15.50), 3. 3. P. Nondisamy (TN, 15.85). Long jump: 1. K.N. Dileep (Ker, 7.12 m), 2. P.K. Anoop (Ker, 7.09), 3. Budhuram Singh (Ori, 7.02). High jump: 1. B. Elangumaran (TN, 1.96 m), 2. S. Ananda Kumar (TN, 1.93), 3. Gagan Baruah (Asm, 1.93). Pole vault: 1. 1. N. Vadivelu (TN, 4.30 m), 2. S. Anthony Dass (TN, 4.00), 3. Deepchandra Yadav (UP, 4.00). Shot put: 1. Sunil Misra (UP, 16.81 m), 2. Mohammed Ujaid (UP, 16.15 m), 3. Chidambaranathan (TN, 14.37). Discus throw: 1. Sharad Chaudhary (UP, 45.79), 2. E. Samuel (TN, 45.77), 3. J. Razeen (TN, 44.40).

Girls, 100m: 1. Namita Samal (Ori, 12.65 s), 2. Mariya James (Ker, 12.77), 3. Vinita Sahni (UP, 12.88). 400m: 1. Frency Thomas (Ker, 57.72 s), 2. Dayana John Selvam (Ker, 58.57), 3. R. Elavarsi (TN, 59.49). 1500m: 1. Jyothi Kolekar (Karn, 4:51.62 s), 2. 2. N.C. Mohanlal (TN, 4:55.97), C.V. Renjitha (Ker, 5:00.83). 3000m: 1. N.C. Mohanlal (TN, 11:06.2 s), 2. Jyothi Kolekar (Karn, 11:06.5 s), 3. Rajashree Patil (Karn, 11:16.0). 100m hurdles: 1. A.K. Saranya (Ker, 15.20 s), 2. P. Lakshmi (TN, 15.22), 3. Trupti Prava Dash (Ori, 15.69). 4 x 100m relay: 1. Kerala (E.S. Jyothi, Beevi Rajan, T.K. Sheeba, Mariya James, 50.17 s), 2. Tamil Nadu (50.37 s). Long jump: 1. Reshmi Bose (Ker, 5.81 m), 2. M.A. Prajusha (Ker, 5.73 m), 3. P. Lakshmi (TN, 5.62 m). Shot put: 1. S.G. Greeshma (Ker, 12.14m), 2. J. Saranya (Ker, 11.70), 3. Neha Singh (11.63). Javelin throw: 1. Ranjita Xess (Ori, 38.00 m), 2. K. Sini (Ker, 37.23), 3. Bincy Devasia (Ker, 37.07). Discus throw: 1. Anitha Abraham (Ker, 41.28 m), 2. Niveditha Narayanan (Ker, 39.30), 3. Neha Singh (UP, 38.37).

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