As many as four Nagpur athletes have been picked up in the Maharashtra squad for the forthcoming National Cross Country scheduled to be held at Chandigarh on February 21. The annual meet will be held at STS Golf Meadows, Chandigarh-Ambala Highway. International athletes Prajakta Godbole and Nikita Raut and national athlete Prachi Godbole will represent Maharashtra in the 10-km women’s open category. Teenage sensation Riya Dohtare will compete in the Under-20 6-km race.
Nikita, Prachi and Riya train under Ravindra Tong, while Prajakta is a trainee of Sunil Kapgate. In the recently held state-level cross country meet at Military School, Pune, Prajakta Godbole had captured bronze medal, while Nikita Raut and Prachi Godbole had finished fourth and sixth, respectively.
In the U-20 girls section, Riya had placed fifth in the state meet. The performance in the Pune state meet helped all the four city girls to make the cut for selection, said Nagpur District Athletics Association (NDAA) secretary Dr Sharad Suryawanshi here on Saturday.
The NDAA President Gurudeo Nagrale, Corporator Nagesh Sahare, SJ Anthony, Umesh Naidu, Ramchandra Wani, Shekhar Suryavanshi, Archana Kottewar, Prof Bunty Prasad Yadav, Ravindra Tong, Jitendra Ghordadekar, Harendra Thakre, Sunil Kapgate and others have congratulated the athletes for their selection for Chandigarh.