The University of Cape Coast, UCC and the University of Development Studies (UDS) were big winners at the 23rd edition of the Ghana Universities Sports Association (GUSA) cross-country marathon held at the University of Professional Studies campus in Accra.

The GUSA cross-country marathon, organised on several occasions at a selected public University, is aimed at unearthing potential athletes to represent GUSA at any pending Federation of African Sports games (FASU Games) and International University Sports Federation games (FISU Games).

The event featured eight Universities across the country including University of Ghana ( UG) , University of Cape Coast ( UCC) , University of Education (UEW), Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology ( KNUST), University of Mines and Technology ( UMaT) , University of Energy, and the University of Development Studies ( UDS ).

Winner of the fourth edition of the Millennium marathon, Elizabeth Azuure from UDS won the girls division of the 10 Kilometres race in 35 minutes 40 seconds, Rita Kyere of UCC placed second with a time of 38 minutes, 53 seconds before Sarah Owu of UCC followed suit in third place.

In the Boys division, defending champion Malik Yakubu from UCC nicked the first position in 30 minutes 35 seconds which is his personal best after two previous wins. He made it a third successive victory in the cross country marathon on Saturday morning. University of Ghana’s Rajah placed second with another UCC student, Nantieri Mathew, securing the 3rd position.

At the end of the event, UCC led by Malik Yakubu emerged winners of the boy's division, University of Ghana placed second whiles the University of Education in Winneba finished in 3rd place.

In the female category, UDS were crowned champions of the competition courtesy an inspiring performance by long-distance runner Elizabeth Azuure. The University of Cape Coast came second with the University of Education, once again placing third just as it occurred in the boy's division.

The Vice-Chancellor of UPSA, Prof. Okoe Amartey, speaking at the closing ceremony, congratulated UCC and UDS for retaining their respective titles and as well lauded the other participating universities for their great show of sportsmanship at the event.

He commended the young athletes for their show of sportsmanship and enthusiasm throughout the competition.

Prof. Amartey seized the opportunity to encourage the young athletes to keep working hard to ensure that someday they make the nation proud in international events.