Njabulo Mbatha, who earned a relay silver medal at last year’s World Athletics Under-20 Championships in Peru, was in top form in the Gauteng leg of the countrywide Track+Field high schools athletics series on Saturday.
He clocked 47.35sec in the U19 boys 400m sprint in the colours of TuksSport High School.
His achievement helped TuksSport High School dominate the meet held at the University of Johannesburg, becoming the latest school to qualify for the National Final of the schools athletics series.
The TuksSport team won both the girls and boys competitions on Saturday.
In the girls division, the Pretoria-based school netted 612 points, with Rand Park High School finishing second after securing 395 points and Marais Viljoen High School taking third place with 349 points.
In the boys category, TuksSport won with 790 points, while Rand Park (438) ended second and Noordwyk Secondary School (269.5) took third position.
“This Track+Field competition is important for us. I think it's very good for the development of emerging athletes ... And for us holistically, being able to drive the development of athletics forward and having an opportunity like we did today is just fantastic,” said Wade Fraser, athletics programme co-ordinator at Tuks Sport High School.
Mbatha was one of the five athletes who stood out with superb individual performances, scoring more than 900 points in their disciplines.
Three of those top performers were in the U17 girls division: Oluchi Ndubueze of Rand Park High School (100m, 12.12), Luanne du Plooy of Marais Viljoen High School (200m, 24.94) and Angel Baloyi of TuksSport (800m, 2:15.22).
“I’m really proud of myself because at the beginning of the year I struggled to get under 25 seconds in the 200m, and now I finally did it,” said Du Plooy, who also finished third in the U17 girls 100m sprint.
In the U15 age group, Bulela Mganu of TuksSport achieved more than 900 points by winning the boys 1 500m race in 4:08.57.
Diepsloot Combined School athletics coach Sibonelo Tshomela praised the series. His team finished fourth in the boys division and 13th in the girls category.
Tshomela was delighted for their athletes to be given an opportunity to compete against the best athletics schools in Gauteng.
“We got position number one in some events in the U15 and U17 age groups, and I’m so happy because this is going to open a lot of opportunities for our learners.
“They are not exposed to much of these sports. I’m so excited for this opportunity, thanks to Track+Field series,” Tshomela said.
The athletes were also pleased to be given a platform to showcase their talent in perfect conditions on the fast UJ Stadium track.
Sprinter Lolwethu Makasi, representing Heronbridge College, won the girls U19 100m (12.44) and 200m (25.22) events, achieving more than 840 points over both distances.
“There’s a lot of energy in the crowd,” Makasi said.
Series co-founder Mathew Quinn thanked all the schools who took part in the Gauteng leg of the T+F campaign, which is being held in all nine provinces, ensuring competitive races were held across the board in the U15, U17 and U19 age groups.
“What an amazing day of track and field, seeing kids from all over Gauteng coming together to compete at UJ Stadium,” said Quinn, a former Olympic sprinter.
“One common goal was to run faster, throw further and jump higher, and we saw some massive personal bests from athletes.
“It was also an amazing performance from TuksSport, who dominated the day. Their athletes performed exceptionally well, so well done to them for being crowned the number one school in Gauteng.”
The Track+Field series is a joint venture between SuperSport, SA Schools Athletics and Athletics South Africa.
The next leg will be held at DP de Villiers Stadium in Sasolburg in the Free State on Wednesday.