Athletes of various age groups, representing different clubs, schools or running as individuals, participated in the second round of the Halls Cross-Country Race on Saturday at Mbombela Stadium.

This is the second of the 13 league fixtures that will take place this year.

The number of athletes participating has increased comparing to the previous race two weeks ago. In the first event there were 176 runners and the second there were 296.

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This race is a pre-season event that prepares the athlete mentally. It also gives athletes an opportunity to qualify for interprovincial, provincial and national competitions.

The team that will represent Mpumalanga at the interprovincial championships will be selected during a race on May 18.

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If an athlete wants to be considered for the team, they must participate in at least one event prior to the qualifying league. The qualifying times will also be taken into consideration during the selection process.

Athletes who want to be considered for selection to represent their club/school at the AMPU Cross Country

Championships must have competed in at least four cross-country runs on the fixtures list. They also need to meet the criteria concerning qualifying times.

In order to be considered for selection to represent AMPU at the National Championships hosted in Port Elizabeth on September 7, athletes must have competed in four of the events as well as the AMPU Cross-Country Championships.

In order to be considered for Mpumalanga colours, athletes must have competed in at least four of the AMPU cross-country races, qualifying and running the inter-provincial cross-country championships, run the Mpumalanga cross-country championships and must meet the criteria concerning their qualifying times.

The athlete must be selected for the Mpumalanga team and participate in the SA Championships.

Here are some the results of the second league

Tanya Pieterse of Laerskool Nelspruit took first place in the three-kilometre race for girls u/13. She completed the race with a time of 12,59. She was followed by Jodi dos Santos of the same school in second place, and Marle Pretorius of Curro in third.

Felicity Sibande of DAC took first place in the four-kilometre race for girls u/15 with a time of 16,42. She improved from a time of 17,09.

Tembe Cossa of LowMed took first place in the six kilometres for junior women. She completed the race with a time of 27,11, followed by Jessica Berry of NHS and Princess Mabunda of DAC. In the last event, Tembe ran in the four-kilometre race, completing it in 16,17.

Martie Naude of LowMed took first place in the four-kilometre race for women 50-54. She completed it in 18,31, but completed the previous race in 18,20. She was once again followed by Hannie Veiss of LVCC in second and Linda de Bruyn from Barberton in third.

Dolen van der Berg of LowMed won the women 35 to 39 four-kilometre race again with a time of 18,40. Last time she ran a time of 18,06.

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