Junior athletics received a boost when more than 300 athletes from 10 regions participated in Athletics Namibia’s Age Group Championships at Windhoek’s Independence Stadium over the weekend.
The event saw athletes competing in u16, u18, u20 and u23 categories to give them more opportunities to compete against their peers, according to Athletics Namibia secretary general Madelyn Kotze.
“It’s the first time in many years that Athletics Namibia hosted the Age Group Championships as a separate event. We just felt there was a need for the youngsters especially the u23 group to participate in their own categories and used this event as a motivation for them to perform amongst their peers and not always having to compete against the senior athletes.
“The u16 age group was also included as part of developing the younger athletes and showing them that there are also opportunities for them. The championships served as a qualifying event for the team that will be selected to compete in the Region 5 Games in Maputo in Mozambique in December, since the National Youth Games could not be hosted as originally planned,” she added.
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Although official records can not be recorded or ratified due to the poor condition of the tartan track, there were several promising performances in the field events.
In the boys under 18 category LWyk Viljoen of the Erongo region won the discus event with a great throw of 53,73m which was more than two metres further than the Namibia School Sport Union’s existing record of 51,42m.
In the girls u16 category, Elizabeth van Rensburg of the Khomas region won the discus with a throw of 42,14m, which is also well over the NSSU’s recorded record of 40,90m.
Marike Weitz excelled in the women’s u20 category, winning the discus event with a throw of 47,58m, well past the recorded record of 43,96m, while she also won the shotput with a throw of 14,39m.
Laliq Adams excelled in the girls u16 javelin, winning gold in 40,88m, which was more than a metre past the recorded record of 39,79m.
In the women’s u20 category, Ansune Smith of Khomas, who has already broken the senior hammerthrow record with a distance of 50,31m, once again came close to that mark with a distance of 49,67m.
In the sprints there were good performances by Ruano de Carvalho and Kim Mbahe who both did the double.
In the u20 men’s category, De Carvalho won the 100m in 10,42 and the 200m in 20,98 seconds, while in the girls u18 category, Mbahe won the 100m in 12,41 and the 200m in 25,52 seconds.
In the women’s u20 category, Kazaotjo Kambiri won the 400m in 58,54 seconds; while Matt-Reece Izaaks won the boys u18 1 500m in 4:03,88.
In the long distance events, Thomas Nikodemus won the men’s u20 5 000m in 16:05,06, while Maria Kanyanga won the women’s u20 5 000m in 17:01,43.
In the men’s u20 high jump Halleluja Kaulinge won gold with a fine effort of 2,05m, while Elleke Potgieter won the girls u18 shot put with a great throw of 14,82m.
Athletics Namibia’s Senior National Championships take place this coming weekend on 24 and 25 April, while several other international events are also on the horizon.
The Southern Africa Confederation of Athletics u18 and u20 Championships will be held in Mauritius in June; the World Junior Championships in Eugene, Oregon, USA will be held in August; while the Commonwealth Games take place in Glasgow, Scotland at the end of July.