Athletes set new records at annual JJJ athletics.

More than 1 000 from 22 schools including Uplands College, Penryn College, hoërskole Bergvlam, Nelspruit, Merensky and Sybrand van Niekerk competed in the biggest pre-season meeting of its kind in the province.

The meeting was named in honour of former headmaster JJJ van Rensburg and first held in 2011, growing bigger and bigger each year.

Hundreds of certificates and medals were handed out to the top athletes of each item and trophies were awarded to the best athletes in hurdles and on the track and field, as well as the overall best seniors and juniors.

Although the drizzle early morning worried organisers and resulted in a few slips on the field, the grass was soon dry and the cloudy weather proved a great climate for excellent achievements on the track and field.

Local athletes who broke records were Reinhardt Venter of Hoërskool Rob Ferreira who set up a new record for u/15s in shotput with a distance of 15,70 metres and Norbert Ponisammy of Lowveld High with a new record of 10,62 seconds in the 100-metre sprint.

Amazing records of other athletes included Shania-Lee Swart of HTS Witbank, who set up a record of 41,06 metres in javelin and 37,86 metres in discus.

Lezandi Pretorius, also of HTS Witbank, was the centre of attention with her record-breaking high-jump performance. She broke the record of 1,5 metres with 18 centimetres, just missing the 1,7-metre mark.

The event was well-attended with parents and supporters cheering on the athletes from the pavilion and sports organiser Stefan van der Merwe travelling throughout the field with the announcer’s microphone to draw attention to great achievements.

Athletes of Hoërskool Rob Ferreira also recently participated in the 30th Marius Lengton athletics meeting at Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane, along with 28 other schools. Out of the 60 participating athletes, 26 won medals.

View more photos here.