This archive report was first published on 23 August 2019.
Kenya's dominance at the East Africa Secondary Schools Games continued on the penultimate day, with the country claiming three gold medals across different venues.
On August 23, 2019, Kakamega High School secured the top spot in rugby 15s, defeating Tanzania's Okeeswa Secondary School 56-15 in their final round-robin match at the Tanzania Game Track (TGT) and Safari grounds.
This victory marked Kakamega's seventh title and an improvement from last year's bronze in Musanze, Rwanda. The team's coach, Amos Wamanga, attributed their success to team work and a never-say-die attitude.
"These boys came back hungrier after a disappointing outing in Rwanda and showed how much they wanted to win the title and the result has been seen here today," Wamanga said.
"This team is still young and we have the potential of dominating for the next coming years if we keep playing on this level," he added.
Meanwhile, Kwanthanze Secondary School successfully defended their volleyball crown, defeating compatriots Cheptil Mixed High School 3-0 (25-19, 25-22, 25-18) in an all-Kenyan final at the same venue.
It is Kwanthanze's fifth overall title and third in a row, underlining their dominance in the sport. Their coach, Justin Kigwari, said he had worked on improving their service and blocks ahead of the final.
"In Kisumu, they capitalised on those two areas to stretch us to five sets but you can see today our improvement did not give them any chance," Kigwari noted.
Kenya's Soweto Academy also made it a clean sweep for the country, defeating Rwanda's St Alloys 3-1 in the play-off earlier.
However, Mogonga PAG Secondary School missed out on the boys' volleyball bronze after they went down 3-2 to Rwanda's Don Bosco Gatenga.
Additionally, Moi Girls Kamusinga exacted revenge on St Joseph's Kirandich Secondary School in the girls' final, edging them 24-22 in another Kenyan affair.
Coach Godfrey Simiyu was elated after the result, noting that it was their mental strength that saw them finally defeat Kirandich.
"They (Kirandich) had the edge after beating us in the national final and we needed to believe that we could beat them. The team has shown great courage and they were able to hold the late charge to win," an elated Simiyu said.
