Iita and Naigambo win Oshakati Victory race

REINHOLD Iita and Beata Naigambo were the winners of the third leg of the Old Mutual Victory Races held in Oshakati on Saturday.

Iita finished the 21km race in a time of 1:11,46 to finish ahead of Oskar Komeya who crossed the line in 1:12,23. Uveni Kuugongwena (1:12,29) and Vilho Paulus (1:12,32) were third and fourth respectively.Beata Naigambo dominated the women’s race to win with a time of 1:21,59 after she managed to build a steady lead over the other competitors. She was followed by Ester Lazarus who crossed the line in 1:27,13 ahead of Sofia Nambabi (1:30,25) and Ester Haitope (1:49,40) who were third and fourth respectively.In the Junior Men’s category, Helarium Iindongo was the winner of the race with a time of 1:16,38 while Ester Lazarus was the winner in the Junior Women’s race.Iita is well on his way to being the overall winner of the men’s category after he won all three of the races so far with only the Windhoek race remaining.In the women’s category, Naigambo is the strong favourite to win after she won the Swakopmund and the Oshakati races. Her main rival, Helalia Johannes won the Keetmanshoop race but did not participate in the other two races.Johannes last week finished third in the Women’s Marathon at the World Military Games in Brazil with a time of 2:37,15.The overall category winners will be determined by taking the two best times of an athlete in the series. Athletes also need to participate in the final in Windhoek and at least one other event of the series.The best overall junior athletes, male and female, will each receive an academic and sports bursary to the value of N$ 12 000, while the best overall athletes in the senior category will receive N$15 000.The top athletes in the senior category also receive an all expenses paid trip to compete in the Two Oceans Marathon in Cape Town next year.- namibiasport.com.na