Five ACNW athletes can now call themselves SA champions after claiming gold at the 2022 ASA Senior Track and Field Championships at Green Point Stadium in Cape Town from 21 to 23 April.
Jo-Ané van Dyk (women’s javelin), Johann Grobler (men’s javelin), Valco van Wyk (men’s pole vault), Alan Cumming (men’s hammer throw) and Marissa Swanepoel (women’s 20 km walk) all walked away with gold medals at the very competitive SA Championships.
It was no surprise that two of these gold medals would come from the javelin camp of Terseus Liebenberg, who consistently produces SA gold medal athletes. Van Dyk (58.30 m) and Grobler (75.83 m) made ACNW proud with their superb throws to beat the competition in Cape Town. Van Dyk had to hold off the youngster, McKyla van der Westhuizen (55.59), while Grobler had to fend off the former SA champ, Phil-Mar Janse van Rensburg (75.40 m) in a tight battle.
Pole vaulter Valco van Wyk once again reigned supreme with a jump of 5.00 m to take gold. Van Wyk beat fellow ACNW athletes Arend Pretorius (4.70 m) in the battle between SA’s best.
Alan Cumming showed his prowess in the men’s hammer throw event with a heave of 70.74 metres to win gold. Marissa Swanepoel continued her fine run of form with another gold in the women’s 20 km race in a time of 1:44:28.
“The weather was fantastic, and this was my first big race for the season. I was aiming for 1:45 and this is a surprise; I am happy with my time. I qualified for the African Championships in Mauritius, and I hope to make the team. I did what I came here for and hope to have a great year. I am a South African champion and it means a lot to me,” stated Swanepoel after her victory.
ACNW were unlucky to miss out on gold in the women’s long jump event, where former Gimmies Joné Kruger (6.10 m) and Karmen Fouché (6.08 m) took silver and bronze, respectively. Danielle Nolte of AGN took first place with a jump of 6.22 metres.
Athletics Central North West (ACNW) registered 17 medals (5 gold, 8 silver and 4 bronze) at the championships to end in fourth place overall at ASA’s showpiece event.
Heavyweights, Athletics Gauteng North (13 gold, 17 silver and 13 bronze) and Central Gauteng Athletics (8 gold, 8 silver, 6 bronze) took first and second place, respectively. Boland Athletics (6 gold, 1 silver and 6 bronze) claimed the third spot.
