Records by the dozens, world-class achievements and, as icing on the cake, a sub-10 second time in the 100m for the world’s fastest teenager.

This is a brief summary of the past weekend’s Athletics Gauteng North (AGN) championship, which took place at the Pilditch track in Pretoria.

After this event, it is not difficult to predict that AGN will once again dominate the medal race next month during the Athletics South Africa (ASA) national championships in Potchefstroom.

The weekend’s championship was presented for the entire spectrum of age groups, which means that there were champions crowned in the categories for u.16; u.18; u.20 and senior athletes.

After the two days of action, 42 new AGN records graced the record books, while eight national records were also broken.

The big star of the event was South Africa’s teenage sprint sensation and Olympic medallist, Bayanda Walaza. Although he only turned 19 a month ago and was therefore still eligible to compete as an under-20 athlete, Walaza took on the senior men in the sprints.

Although he was beaten in the 200m by former Junior World Championship bronze medallist Sinesipho Dambile, Walaza saved his best for last in the 100m race. He took on several experienced athletes and stars in their own right, such as Gift Leotlela, Emile Erasmus and Rivaldo Roberts and won the race in a brilliant time of 9.99s.

With this achievement, Walaza not only shattered the national u.20 record, but also became only the ninth South African to run a sub-10 seconds 100m, while being only the seventh junior (u.20) athlete in the history of world athletics to achieve this feat.

Another teenage athlete who has athletic experts excited is 14-year-old learner from Die Hoërskool Menlopark, Janelle Kirkpatrick. This young star will only turn 15 in July this year, but participated in the 90m and 300m hurdles events at the championships in the category for u.16 athletes.

She won both events in new AGN record times and also set a new SA u.16 record in the 90m hurdles with her time of 12.24s.

16-year-old Mukona Manavhela from Curro Hazeldean, who will only turn 17 in September this year, achieved a similar feat when he set a new national record in the 100m in the under-18 category. Manavhela’s winning time of 10.21s is a new personal best for him.

Another Menlopark learner, Michael Shanzi, also showed that he could be a future superstar with his victory in the 400m for boys u.16 in a brilliant time of 48.71s. Shanzi, who will celebrate his 15th birthday at the end of the month, also set a national u.16 record.

The third athlete from Die Hoërskool Menlopark responsible for a new national record is 16-year-old Megan Nieman. She beat several older athletes in the 100m hurdles for girls u.18 to win in a record time of 13.12s.

Phenyo Miyen from TuksSport High School also set a new national record in the short hurdles. He won the 110m hurdles for boys u.18 in a blistering time of 13.06s.

Two national records were set in the middle distances, both in 1500m races. Curro Hazeldean’s Tiisetso Malungane won the 1500m race for boys u.16 in a time of 03:56.64, while Hoërskool Zwartkop’s Minke Dekker beat her opposition in the 1500m race for girls u.18 with her stunning time of 04:26.40.

Jean-Jacques Ellis from Hoërskool Die Wilgers provided one of the big surprises at the event when he improved his personal best distance in the long jump (boys u.16) by 28cm to take gold in this event and break one of only two national records in a field event at the championship. His new record distance is 7.03m, which is a remarkable achievement for a 15-year-old boy.

The other national record in a field event belongs to Daniella Fourie from Die Hoërskool Menlopark, who won the discus for girls u.16 with a distance of 41.97m.

South Africa’s record holder in the women’s 100m hurdles, Marjoné Fourie, won the event in a new AGN record time (12.81s) under very difficult personal circumstances. Fourie’s coach, Juan Strydom, who guided her to great heights on the track, passed away suddenly a day before the start of the championships.

Pretoria’s new 800m star, the speedy aspiring doctor Charné Swart, also made up for her disappointing performance at last week’s ASA Grand Prix meeting. She once again broke the 2-minute mark in the 800m race, winning the event in the senior women’s category in a time of 1:59.45.

Last year’s queen of the SPAR Grand Prix 10km races, Glenrose Xaba, showed that she is ready for another great season by achieving a double in the longer distances. She won the 5000m in 15:20.00 and the 10000m in 31:56.65, both new AGN records.

Do you have more information about the story?

Please send us an email to bennittb@rekord.co.za or phone us on 083 625 4114.

For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord’s websites: Rekord East

For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram