Athletes dominate at final league meeting
They joined hundreds of athletes who are vying for a spot in the team to represent the province at the nationals in December.
Boksburg Athletic Club (BAC) pair Lanelda Herbst and Megan Cunha grabbed the first and second spots in the girls’ U11 shot put during the final CGA sub-youth track and field meeting at Germiston Stadium on November 4.
The duo joined hundreds of athletes who continued their build-up to the provincial championship on November 18, where a team to represent central Gauteng in the inter-provincials in Secunda in December, will be selected.
Herbst finished the event top of the podium after throwing a PB distance of 11.36m while Cunha was second with a throw of 10.27m for her second podium of the day.
Their teammate Tatum Coetzer added to the club’s success on the field with a third-place finish in the girls’ U11 turbo-javelin with a throw of 14.03m.
The versatile Cunha grabbed the third spot in the girls’ U11 100m dash, crossing the line in 14.28 seconds behind winner Nqobile Banda from East Athletic Club (EAC), who breasted the tape in 14.10 seconds for first place.
The pair lined up again in the 80m sprint with Banda claiming first place while Cunha finished fourth, despite winning her heat.
The BAC’s Joshua Strydom finished in third place in the boys’ 70m hurdles while teammate Anzaret Strauss was second in the U13 girls’ 200m sprint after finishing the race in 27.05 seconds.
The BAC veteran sprinter Riaan van Niekerk was third in the men’s U50 100m after arriving at the finish in a quick-fire 14.43 while Logan Oosthuizen from the Benoni Northerns Athletic Club (BNAC) won the boys’ U13 200m dash in a time of 23.82 seconds.
The middle-distance events saw the EAC top runner Thato Sesoko grabbing her third podium in three races in the girls’ U13 800m, finishing in second place while the BNAC’s Chelsea van Dyk podiumed for the first time in the event since the beginning of the season after finishing third.
In the 1 500m, Van Dyk and Sesoko swapped places on the podium, with the former in second place in a season’s best of 04:53 while the latter finished in third place, four seconds later.
Siyanda Madlabane was third in the boys’ category with a season’s best of 04:44 for his first podium of the season.
The BNAC’s Lea Klingenberg grabbed the second spot in the girls’ U9 600m in a time of 02:01 while the EAC’s Mahlatse Mamonyane won her second 1 200m girls’ U11 race with a PB of 04:05.
“All the meetings were a great success and we are happy with the build-up to the provincial championships next week,” said CGA track and field commission chairperson, Maggie Dicks.
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