NWU’s Grobler breaks Varsity Athletics javelin record
The NWU Varsity Athletics team’s javelin throwers and sprinters were the stars of the show in the first leg of the 2018 Varsity Athletics season in Pretoria on Friday 2 March. NWU’s Javelin hero, Johann Grobler surpassed the 80-metre mark with a monumental record throw of 80.25 m. This was just below his own personal …
The NWU Varsity Athletics team’s javelin throwers and sprinters were the stars of the show in the first leg of the 2018 Varsity Athletics season in Pretoria on Friday 2 March.
NWU’s Javelin hero, Johann Grobler surpassed the 80-metre mark with a monumental record throw of 80.25 m. This was just below his own personal best of 80.59 metres. Grobler was the highest points contributor for the NWU with 1 097 points. NWU’s sprinters, Chederick van Wyk, Lente Pieterse and Ariane Nel were also outstanding on the track and showcased the ever-growing improvement in the sprints at the university. Van Wyk won gold in the 200 metres and brought home 1 089 points for the NWU. He also raced to a bronze medal in the men’s 100 metres event. Pieterse won gold in the 100 metres and a silver in the 200 metres to rack up a combined tally of 2 128 points for the purple team.
The NWU came in a close second, though, as Tuks – the eventual winners on the night – just snatched victory. It was an athletics battle of epic proportions as both universities went at it hammer and tongs in a tight affair. Tuks achieved a score of 15 628 with the NWU accumulating 15 582 points in total. It was this slender margin of 46 points that separated Tuks and NWU in the end and both squads of athletes will now look to the second and final leg at the same track on Friday, 23 March to determine the overall winners.
The medal winners for the NWU were the following outstanding athletes:
Gold:
Lente Pieterse (100 m) – 11.61; Chederick van Wyk (200 m) – 20.86; Danel Holton (400 m) – 55.11; Rantso Mokopane (1 500 m) – 03:48.67; Tiaan Kleynhans (110-m hurdles) – 14.03; Cynthia Tsetsewa (400-m hurdles) – 1:01.12, Mpho Links (high jump) – 2.15 m; Joné Kruger (long jump) – 5.83 m; Letitia Janse van Vuuren (hammer throw) – 52.66 m, Tshepang Makhethe (hammer throw) – 67.06 m; Jo-Ané van Dyk (javelin) – 49.77 m and Johann Grobler (javelin) – 80.25 m.
Silver:
Lente Pieterse (200 m) – 23.78; Denise Hartman (100-m hurdles) – 14.16; Alwyn Bothma (110-m hurdles) – 14.19 and Erich Wiese (javelin) – 72.94 m.
Photos: Leslie Kock/Maclez Studio
