Sacred Heart College (SHC), Thevara, trounced its rivals by a huge margin to defend its title in the Mahatma Gandhi University Arts Festival, which drew to a close here on Monday.
The college scored 107 points to win the title where as St. Teresa’s College, with 91 points, finished runner-up. RLV College Music and Fine Arts came third with 63 points while Maharaja’s College, Ernakulam, was placed fourth with 60 points, as per the official website of the festival.
The SHC bettered its last year’s tally of 102 points. Last year, the college had staged an upset to wrest the championship from St. Teresa’s, which could secure just 53 points.
While the SHC maintained a clear domination since day one of the event, St. Teresa’s banked on some tenacious performances on the penultimate and the final day to race past the colleges at the third and fourth position.
As in the previous year, colleges from Ernakulam clinched the first four positions in the championship table while Newman College, Thodupuzha, which scored 48 points, was the only college outside the district to find a place among the top five.
Poornasree Haridas of SHC topped the list of individual performers, followed by Kavipriya B. of St. Thomas College, Pala.
The events staged on the last day of the festival evoked huge public response. At the main venue where the Oppana competition was held, people were seen encouraging the performers.
Actor Rajeesha Vijayan inaugurated the valedictory of the event, which lasted five days. MGU union chairman Nikhil S. presided while Sabu Thomas, Vice Chancellor in charge, MGU, delivered the keynote address. Actor Vijay Babu and Sarjano Khalid were present.