Athletes advance to provincials at CGA meeting
The athletes who did well have qualified for the provincial championships on March 12.
The Central Gauteng Athletics (CGA) hosted its second open track and field meeting on February 12 at Boksburg City Stadium.
The best-performing athletes will now head to Germiston Stadium for the u-16, 18 and 20 provincial championships on March 12.
Several athletes from Boksburg and Benoni have advanced to the provincials after impressing in their events.
Wessel van der Nest of Benoni High Athletics Club (BHAC) won the men’s u-20 100m and 200m while Boksburg Athletic Club’s Courtney Heymans won the women’s u-20 javelin throw.
Divine Mavungu of the BAC won the boys u-16 100m and 200m while his clubmate Sune Greef beat her competitors in the women’s u-18 400m hurdles.
The boys’ u-16 high jump was a fiercely contested affair between the Benoni Northerns Athletic Club’s Moetlo Sefoka and the BAC’s duo Tian Bosman and Seth Agliotti.
Sefoka, who came into the event with a back injury he sustained in a school competition, won with a jump of 1.75m and was followed closely by Bosman who could only manage 1.70m in his attempt.
Sefoka had to dig deep into his arsenal to win but his coach Tshokolo Tsotetsi was confident he will advance.
“So far, he is good. We needed him to master the basics. His height and execution brought him back into competition after those mistakes he made earlier,” Tsotetsi said.
Bosman’s coach Reyno Steenekamp was impressed by his performance.
“He is jumping really well. He’s executing the basics well, and he’s got a good future,” Steenekamp said.
CGA steadily recovering financially
The CGA calendar is packed with events this year following two years of minimal competition due to Covid-19. The organisation was hit hard in the pocket as most of its funding comes from hosting events. The organisation’s Mandla Radebe said they are elated to be able to host events again.
“For us as a federation, it’s great to be back under the new normal. The pandemic had affected normal participation as most events were cancelled. We and the athletes are happy to see things opening up and are looking forward to national and international competitions,” he said.
He added that the organisation is steadily recovering financially.
“Covid-19 affected us financially as most of our funding comes from hosting events. For over 18 months since the pandemic started, races were cancelled.
“We thank the support of all partners and sponsors for their loyalty throughout this period. We are slowly recovering financially and are positive with events coming back that 2022 will be a great year.”
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Other notable winners from Boksburg and Benoni
• Theodore Vermaak men u-20 400m hurdles
• Fiona van Dam women u-20 triple jump
• Fabio de Klerk boys u-18javelin
• Cessandra Raath girls u-16 300m hurdles
• Kelly Etafia girls u-18 high jump
• Annika Greef women senior 400m hurdles
• Nicole Alberts women u-18 discus (2nd)
• Donovan Jansen van Vuuren boys u-16 300m hurdles (2nd)
• Keira Fouche girls u-16 100m (2nd).
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