Linden resident and Parktown Girls’ learner is now double SA cross-country champion
Nicola Smith won these titles after finishing first at the Gerald Fox Memorial, Randburg Harriers and Wanderers races in the Vitality Run Series junior categories this year.
Linden resident Nicola Smith (13) is now a double South African cross-country champion and is eager to achieve even greater things from there.
The Grade 8 learner at Parktown High School for Girls is setting the national running scene ablaze with her recent victories, including winning the South African U14 Cross-Country Championships in Gqeberha on September 16 and following it up with another gold in the U14 South African Schools Cross-Country Championships in Polokwane on September 30.
All this in her first season running for Central Gauteng Athletics (CGA). Nicola ran the 4km schools championships race in just 14:21 – an exceptional time for her age group in cross-country.
“I found it very exciting. I have set a good foundation and I can only go upwards from here,” she told Randburg Sun. “My greatest challenge was that I rolled my ankle at a meeting in April and I was out for two weeks. But I overcame that by doing lots of exercises for recovery. There was also lots of support from people around me. My mom, coaches and other people helped me stay mentally strong.”
Nicola’s perseverance came through when she also fell at the start of the CGA Championships but still got up to fight from the last position and secure third place. It was this result that enabled her selection for the national team, and allowed her to go on to win it all.
Nicola trains under the guidance of Michelle Mee, who she hails as ‘the best coach in the universe’, at Old Parktonian Sports Club in Bordeaux.
Mee said Nicola’s strengths as a runner are that she is very focused and prepares well before a race. “Nicola will walk the course before, eat the right food, and go to sleep early the night before. She also knows herself well, so she can make choices on the fly to take the best route for her. She strategises well.”
Things will be quiet for Nicola in cross-country for the next few months, but she may do some road races. She is no slouch in this regard, being the first female across the line in any age division at the Randburg Harriers and Wanderers races in the Vitality Run Series, and the first junior in the Gerald Fox Memorial Race in the same series.
Mee is preparing Nicola to compete at the SA National Track Championships in March and April, where the youngster will hope to race 800m, 1 500 and 3 000m. The ultimate goal is success there and qualification for the World Track Championships.
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