Rob, NHS boast most athletes heading to SAs

The Lowveld’s top athletes will come face-to-face with the county’s best at the South African School Championships at Kenneth McArthur Stadium Potchefstroom next Wednesday.

Hoërskool Rob Ferreira’s Lowazi Mogodiri will not rest on his laurels and is ready to make a clean sweep on the national stage this year.

The 15-year-old bagged a whopping 1 058 ABSA points at the Mpumalanga Champs in Secunda on Saturday for his 6,66 metres in long jump. At the Interhigh meeting, he competed against the u/16s where he placed third with a distance of 6,23.

Rob speedster Vuyo Ndlovu (u/16) ran a 10,22 for boys u/17 in the 100-metre event which is worth 1 053 points on the ABSA table. He will also be in action in the 200 metres after placing second with a time of 22,00.

Teammate Nkosana Mpinga, who had a false start at the Interhigh in his spesialised event, the 100 metres, also broke the 1 000 mark on the ABSA table for his time of 10,25 seconds. He missed out on last year’s SAs due to a groin injury.

Another youngster of Rob, Junior Mondlane, clinched the boys u/15 100-metre title with a time of 10,90. His time is worth 1 000 points.

One of the Lowveld’s finest athletes, South African School triple-jump gold medallist, Nolwazi Mashaba (u/16, Lowveld High), will also travel to Potchefstroom to defend her title. She will, however, compete for girls u/19 in the triple jump event.

On Saturday she landed 12,05 metres. During last year’s South African Youth and Junior championships, she jumped 12,38.

Hoërskool Nelspruit’s Van Reenen Kruger (u/15) who delivered some stellar performances this year, won gold in the 100-metre hurdles event with a time of 13,25. This event will be a programme highlight as Ashaan Sebastian Greaver placed second (13,28) and Junior (13,43) rounding off the podium.