Nolwazi Mashaba’s (u/16) was too, when she hit the jackpot twice in the sandpit on Saturday.

She rewrote triple- and long-jump history when she not only improved, but shattered, two records that survived various attempts over the years. She set a new u/19 triple-jump benchmark when she bettered a six-year-old record with 12,38 metres – a full metre and 35 centimetres further than the previous best distance of 11,03.

She flew through the air and achieved what no one could in 33 years, when she improved a 1985 long-jump record of 5,55 to 5,59. Her cunning performance secured her the title of the best senior female athlete in jumps.

Not the best overall performance of the interhigh, but certainly LHS’ stalwart of the day, Nhlkanipho Malungisa came close to breaking a 2009 u/17 triple jump record, but just fell short. His effort was, however, still commended with a gold medal. He received another gold when he reached a long jump distance of 6,37 metres.

Of the seven schools, none were able to beat one of Mpumalanga’s fastest athletes, Norbert Ponisammy. Last year he set the bar high when he broke over the 100- and 200-metre finish lines in a respective time of 21,74 and 10,46.

In the latter, Ruan Labuschagne of NHS came just 0,38 short with a time of 10,84. Ruan also chased Norbert’s record in the 200 metres but crossed the finish line just 0,84 later.