Charlotte Venter and Engela Jansen van Vuuren led the Boksburg Athletic Club (BAC) charge at the CGA cross-country championships in Germiston on August 15, both claiming bronze medals in their respective races.

Venter produced her best performance in two years to finish third in the veteran women’s 40-44 race, while young Jansen van Vuuren capped a memorable debut club cross-country season with another top-three finish.

The blue and white of BAC shone brightly as 12 athletes tackled the fast and undulating Germiston Soccer Club course, bringing the curtain down on an impressive first cross-country season for many of the club’s development runners.

Venter opened BAC’s medal account in the combined sub-veteran, veteran, master and grandmaster women’s 4km race, clocking 17:03 for third in the veteran women’s category.

The performance came after a difficult period for Venter, who said her previous best performance was a silver in the sub-veteran women’s 4km race at the 2024 CGA championships in Kagiso, where she ran 19:08.

“It was tough. I was anxious and nervous. We moved to Benoni about three months ago, so I got a new coach, Ryan Gibson, and he helped me a lot,” she said.

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“I achieved my strongest time in two years. It was a tough one, but I felt good.”

The race started at a blistering pace, with Daveyton’s Maria Shai attacking from the gun while her Boxer teammate Cornelia Joubert kept close behind. Venter settled into the middle of the field and was 14th by the start of the second lap as the athletes passed the 2km mark in single file.

With Run Zone’s Jessica Maitland-Stuart and Nedbank’s Tebogo Mokgosinyane comfortably ahead in the veteran race, Venter dug deep to move into contention and eventually crossed the line third.

“I think in the middle I could have done a bit better. I slacked a bit, but then I picked up again along the second lap. But I’m happy with how it ended.”

Jansen van Vuuren then added BAC’s second bronze in the U10 girls’ 2km, missing silver by just two seconds.

Benoni Northerns’ Nolwazi Magwaza dominated the race in 07:35, with Bontle Mathole second in 07:46 and Jansen van Vuuren third in 07:48.

“I’m very happy and proud of myself because I never thought I would qualify for the nationals,” she said. “I’m exhausted. The race was fun.”

Elsewhere, Isaac Mokgola and Jeremy Hartzenberg produced solid performances in the veteran men’s 8km, while Zacharia Mogotsi finished seventh in the grandmaster men’s 60-64 6km race in 26:20.

There were also encouraging performances from Jordan Williams, Elani and Deane Ferreira, Klarike Brookman, Adrian Venter, Naledi Chochi and Thabiso Given Mkhalipi.

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