More than 1 000 aspiring track and field athletes took to Ruimsig Stadium for the second Puma School of Speed athletics meet on Saturday, 2 February.
The meet saw athletes from all over Gauteng don their athletics bibs to take part in what is fast becoming one of South Africa premier school athletics series, which gives them the opportunity to be scouted and potentially be signed up by Puma. It also saw some of the province’s top athletics schools such as Helpmekaar Kollege, Hoërskool Menlopark, and Prestige College make the trip to Ruimsig to put their best athletes on show.
While the skies might have been cool, overcast and gloomy throughout the day, the athletes made sure that the talent on show was nothing short of red-hot and bright. The day started off shortly before 10am with the 1 500m races and the long- and high-jump items taking place first. The 1 500m races were followed by the 400m heats, which were in turn followed by the ever-entertaining 100m heats which only served as precursors for the 100m final which took place later on in the day.
The first close call of the day came in the boys U/19 1 500m race, which saw Luan Munnik and Ngconde Matwebu go right down to the wire, as Ngconde edged Luan by a mere four-tenths of a second. While there was plenty of entertainment throughout the day, the pinnacle of the day arguably came right at the end of the event when the 100m and 200m finals rolled around.
In the U/19 girls 200m race, Antoinette van der Merwe crossed the finish line in an impressive time of 24,61 seconds, while in the boys race Phatutshedzo Maswanganyi won himself gold in a lightning fast time of 21,66 seconds. When it came time for the 100m finals, the crowd of hundreds of people eagerly awaited the what lay ahead. In the U/19 girls 100m race, Rose Xeyi obliterated her competition in a spectactularly fast time of 11,98 seconds, while in the boys race, Sifiso Miya blitzed his way to a time of 10,52 seconds to claim gold.
Do you perhaps have more information pertaining to this story? Email us at northside@caxton.co.za (remember to include your contact details) or phone us on 011 955 1130.
For free daily local news on the West Rand, also visit our sister newspaper websites
