Two local athletes recently represented Gauteng at national school level and national club level.
Young talents Cindy von Ahlefeldt (u-18), from Dawnview, and Christelle Grobler (u-14), from Solheim, represented Gauteng at the ASA Club National Championships, in Germiston, and the SA Secondary School National Championships, in Bloemfontein.
Both athletes made it to the podium in their respective events, despite competing in older age groups.
Von Ahlefeldt, an u-18 athlete, competed in the U-19 Junior Club National Championships, in the middle distance events (400m and 800m).
At the meeting in Germiston, she received gold and was crowned as the 800m Junior Champion for 2016, finishing the race in two minutes, 12 seconds.
On the same day she managed to set a time of 55.8 seconds in the 400m dash, coming in third and taking the bronze medal.
At the SA Secondary School National Championships, she made the podium in both events, receiving silver medals in both the 400m (54.93 seconds) and 800m (two minutes, 11 seconds).
Von Ahlefeldt was also part of the 4x400m relay team which took gold at the meeting.
Grobler (u-14) competed in the u-16 Sub-Youth Club National Championships shot put event.
At the meeting in Germiston, she achieved a distance of 13.49m, earning the third spot on the podium and a bronze medal.
At the Bloemfontein meeting, she competed in the shot put and discus events.
She achieved a bronze medal in shot put with a distance of 13.08m.
In the discus event she just missed a podium position by a few centimetres, with a distance of 35.32m, finishing in fourth place.
Von Ahlefeldt has qualified to take part in the SA Seniors Athletics Championships that will be held in Stellenbosch on April 15 and 16, where she will have an opportunity to qualify for the CAA African Championships that will be held from April 30 to May 1, and the CAA Southern Region Junior Championships, that will be held from June 4 to 5, in Zambia.
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