A TOTAL OF 32 records were broken at the Triple N Zone in Suva yesterday as defending champions Lelean Memorial School (LMS) and Adi Cakobau School (ACS) retained the boys and girls titles respectively.
Of that number only 12 track records were broken as athletes in the field events dominated the competition by claiming 20 records including the senior boys shot put record that was broken twice.
A Meet official confirmed the huge number of records broken were a surprise to all who were present at the National Stadium yesterday.
"In the past years we usually have around 10 records set," the official said.
"But this year, when we heard that 32 records were broken we thought we had set a record for breaking records at the Triple N zone."
The official said one of reasons why such a large number of records were broken were the preparation time for the event.
"In the past schools did not have enough time to prepare and athletes were tired from the inter-house but this year, schools and athletes had two full weeks to recover from the inter-house and prepare for the Zone."
"The large number of records show that athletes are pushing the boundaries and setting a better platform in terms of the level of competition."
"If they perform the same way at the Coca-Cola Games (Fiji Secondary Schools Athletics Finals) then maybe the events will not be dominated by the same schools," the official said.
Meanwhile, LMS overcame stiff challenge from Sila Central College to retain their boys title.
They won 13 gold, eight silver and six bronze medals compared to Sila's 12 gold, 13 silver and five bronze.
In third place was Rewa Secondary School with nine gold, five silver and three bronze.
ACS once again dominated all the categories of the girls division for their 24th reign as girls champion.
They scooped a massive 24 gold, 20 silver and seven bronze medals. Their closest opponents, Sila managed only four gold, five silver and seven bronze medals to sit at second place.
Third place was Rewa Secondary with their tally of four gold, three silver and two bronze.