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R/£ Athletes head to Durban with championship in mind
March 15, 2007 Edition 1
IT'S a huge weekend for athletics in South Africa.
With the IAAF World Championships scheduled for the end of August and early September this year, every top athlete in the country is looking forward to this weekend's South African Senior Track & Field Championship at King's Park Athletics Stadium.
The athletes will gather in Durban with one thing in mind - to qualify for the World Championship.
Hence their performances will be closely monitored by the national selectors at this weekend's two-day meeting, starting tomorrow and finishing on Saturday afternoon.
The World Championships are to take place in Osaka, Japan.
Geraldine Pillay, who spent valuable time with some of the top athletes overseas, will be one of the main attractions along with KwaZulu-Natal's Lee-Roy Newton, Sherwin Vries, who recorded four out of four wins at the Yellow Pages Ultimate Series recently.
Newton and Vries will go head to head in the 100m along with another in-form athlete Snyman Prinsloo. And it's likely the KwaZulu-Natalians, who are trained by the same coach - Mark Labuschagne - will run in the 200m dash as well.
"There's a lot of excitement building up for the championship," said Joyce Smith, chief executive of KwaZulu-Natal Athletics, the host of the event.
"And with the calibre of athletes coming to Durban for the two-day nationals, we are in for some exciting times, terrific performances and we are also expecting a huge crowd to support these athletes.
"We have some world-class performers in our midst and they will be out to qualify for the World Championships - it's a huge incentive for every athlete. Hence, we are expecting some outstanding performances from them."
The others who could catch the eyes of the spectators are Mbulaeni Mulaudzi, Khotso Mokeona, who holds the South African record for the long and triple jumps, Tebogo Masehla, who is the 3000m steeplechase record holder, Janice Jacobs, who has performed with credit in the 100m hurdles and the long jump and African champion in the shot, Elizna Naude.
From a KwaZulu-Natal perspective there will be the likes of Veronica Abrahamse (shot and discus), Siyabonga Nkonde (5000m), Thubalethu Phaku (5000m) and Pieter Koekemoer (400m hurdles).
Another highlight of the championship will be the 20km Race Walk at 6pm on Saturday.
The curtain-raiser for the championship is the KwaZulu-Natal Schools Relay. The championships start at 10am tomorrow.
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KENT Adams of Pinetown and Districts was one of the stars of the KwaZulu-Natal Secondary Schools Championships at King's Park Athletics Stadium last weekend. He was once again outstanding in the high jump and maintained his 1.95m record at the championship last week.
Others who did well were Sphelele Luthuli (Junior Women 400m); Senzo Nkosi (Youth Men 3000m); Philani Nkosi (Youth Men 110m hurdles); Phindile Nkosi (Junior Women 100m hurdles)
The KwaZulu-Natal Secondary Schools selectors will name their squad this week for the National Secondary Schools Championship to be staged in Port Elizabeth from March 29-31.
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ROAD RUNNING
Postnet Marathon and Half Marathon will be held on March 18 in Pietermaritzburg, at 5am. The race is being hosted by Natal Carbineers Athletics Club. For more information contact John Hall at 082 491 7679 or 033 342 3284.
On March 21, Stella Sports Club will stage their annual Stella Royal Road Race from their headquarters in Davenport Road, starting at 5am.
There will be a 10km walk and run and a 25km run. Entering the 25km run will cost R40. Those who do not have a licence will be able to get a temporary one for R15. There will be T-shirts for all 25km finishers on the day.
The 10km walk and run which will start at 5.30am - half an hour after the 25km run - will cost an athlete R20 and a temporary licence for this race will be R12. There will be medals for all finishers in this race.
Registration will begin at 4am at the clubhouse on the day of the races.
In the past years the likes of Willie Mtolo, Thomas Magawane, Colin Lindeque, Colleen de Reuck and Grace D'Oliveira participated in these races and were winners as well.
For more information on the Stella Royal Road Race, contact Cecil Sher at 083 566 3333.
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