Winners are not always marked by how they begin but rather how they finish, and this was evident during the first leg of the 2017 Varsity Athletics series in Potchefstroom on Friday night.
The University of Pretoria (Tuks) showcased this with a blistering display on the track in the final two hours of the event as they stormed past NWU-Pukke who had the lead for about 80 per cent of the evening.
Tuks’ sprinting sensations, Thando Roto and Gift Lekotela were on hot form on the track as they blitzed the competition in the 100 and 200 metres, respectively. Roto ran an impressive 10.08 while Lekotela finished his 200 metre event in 20.50. Roto also took home the victor ludorum trophy while Tuks Rikenette

Steenkamp bagged the victrix ludorum trophy for her performances in the 100 metre hurdles.
Pukke had home field advantage and a number of determined athletes who shone brightly underneath the Potchefstroom sky.

Rantso Makopane was definitely one of Pukke’s brightest talents as he smashed the Varsity Athletics men’s 1 500 metre record with a time of 03:46.38. Pukke’s women athletes also demonstrated their dominance in the middle and long distances when Sherilene Gelderblom took first place in the women’s 1 500 metre final, clocking a time of 04:27.57.

Makopane ran a solid race and showed why he is rated as one of the country’s best middle and long distance athletes.
Pukke’s hurdles athletes were also in top form as both Theodor Young and Cynthia Tsetsewa claimed impressive second places in the men’s 110 metre hurdles and women’s 400 metre hurdles respectively.

Photos: Mario van de Wall

Kovsies dominated the long jump event as both Jovan van Vuuren (7.73 metre) and Maryke Brits (6.11 metre) took first places. Pukke’s Koketso Mogapi did his best to beat Van Vuuren but he had to settle for second place with a jump of 7.63 metre.

In one of the surprise results of the evening, Pukke’s Henco Uys took first place in the highly competitive men’s 800 metre race with a time of 1:49.87. Rynardt van Rensburg (Kovsies) and George Kushke (Tuks) were the favourites but Uys dethroned them on home turf with a tactically intelligent race.
Pukke’s 400 metre athletes can also be proud of their stunning effort as they dominated
both the women’s and men’s events. Pieter Conradie took gold in a time of 46.13, while Danel Holton and Suné Alberts battled to see which Puk could cross the finish line first. Holton eventually prevailed, clocking in a time of 55.46.

As expected, Terseus Liebenberg’s javelin throwers, Johann Grobler and Leon Laubser of Pukke, also put in good performances with Grobler getting a 75.46 metre throw and Laubser reaching 73.38 metres.
The second leg will take place at the LC de Villers Stadium at Tuks on 31 March and will no doubt be a real cliffhanger if this first meeting is anything to go by. Can Pukke dethrone Tuks or will Tuks celebrate on home soil?
Results:
Division A:
1 Tuks: 15604
2 Pukke: 15252
3 Kovsies: 14902
4 UJ: 14857
5 Maties: 14317
6 UWC: 14068
7 Madibaz: 13721
8 TUT: 13463
Division B:
1 UCT 7679
2 VUT: 7255
3 CUT: 6107
4 UL: 4611