Uplands’ sport teams overpower Penryn
Uplands College hosted the second leg of the derby this past weekend, and their home-ground advantage meant that they floundered Penryn College in almost all the clashes.
On the hockey field, all but one game ended in a victory for Uplands, and one in a draw. Uplands which in the first leg of the derby thrashed the u/16 A girls hockey team, six goals to 0, on Saturday were victorious with eight goals to 0.
Penryn College’s first hockey team, who hasn’t lost a game this season, won 4-1.
On the netball courts, Uplands also dominated under the poles. The u/15 A match was a real nail-biter with Penryn winning by one goal, 14-13. The rest of Uplands’ team had landslide victories.
The home team managed to take four out of five wins on the rugby field, with Penryn u/14s clenching a 22-10 win.
Uplands’ first team game saw Penryn going down 8-13.
The chess games between the two schools saw Uplands reigning champions with eight games to six. On the tennis courts, Uplands’ second team won 34-21 and the first team narrowly losing 27-28.
* The Uplands MTB Classic offered adventure seekers of all ages the opportunity to tackle the scenic route surrounding the premises.
The race drew more than 300 entrants competing in a choice of distances: 55 kilometre Classic, 30 kilometre Challenge, 15 kilometre fun race and five kilometre Fun Ride.
Director of Mountain Biking SA, Brett Coates said that the emphasis was on fun and the route is purposely designed and built by MTO Forestry to cater for all mountain bikers – from the nippers and recreational cyclists to the professionals.
Speaking of professionals, one of the top local riders Franco Pelser took the spoils in the 55-kilometre race in a time of 02:15,20 with Heine Engelbrecht hot on his heals in 02:16,04. Christo Carelson finished third in 02:19,55.
Samantha Sanders, one of SA’s top riders, was the first female to cross the finish line in a time of 2:22,32, which secured her an overall seventh place.
The first place was hotly contested in the 30 kilometre race, with less than a second separating the first four positions. But in the end, Uplands headmaster Gary Sim reigned supreme in a time of 01:25,09 followed by Dillon Botha six seconds late, Nathan Smith 20 second later and the only three seconds later, the first female Hijke Coetzee in 01:25,38. Hijke also secured the overall fourth place with this respectable time.
In the 15 kilometre race, Joshua Clarke finished first in a time of 33,42.
* The Uplands Equestrian Centre hosted a stadium eventing and jumping show for this year’s festival.
The show opened on Friday afternoon with exciting stadium eventing. In this discipline, cross-country and showjumping obstacles are part of the same course, testing riders and horses alike.
Both Saturday and Sunday saw some of Mpumalanga’s finest showjumpers honing their skills in the arena.
Sunday concluded with a thrilling cable-stitch fun competition. In this class two riders jump the course in relay against time. This class had the equestrian community nominate teams and increase the pledge with each accepted nomination.
The winning team, calling themselves the Cops & Robbers (Lande Willemse and Sandra Kruger) won this competition.
