South Africa scoops athletics championships

SOUTH Africa were the overall winners of the Southern African Regional Senior Athletics Championships in Windhoek on Sunday, with a total of 20 medals, consisting of 11 gold, six silver and three bronze medals.

Zimbabwe came second with five gold, five silver and three bronze medals, while Zambia came third with two gold, eight silver and eight bronze medals. The hosts, Namibia, came fourth with two gold, four silver and one bronze medal.A total of 10 southern African countries participated in the event, which was the third and final leg of the Southern African series, following events in Zimbabwe and Botswana.The competition also afforded athletes an opportunity to qualify for the All-Africa Games.The event was attended by the IAAF’s representative for Africa, Leonard Chuene, who expressed satisfaction with the talent coming through in the region.”We believe that, if you look at Africa, the southern region called Zone Six is the strongest and only viable region.If we continue like this, South Africa will have very strong neighbouring countries, so that when we want strong competition, we should not go abroad to Europe, but we can find very strong competition within the region itself,” he said.Namibia’s gold medallists were up-and-coming 400m athlete Tjipekapora Herunga and long jumper Stefan Louw.Herunga broke Agnes Samaria’s national 400m record of 53,83 seconds on two occasions.She first won her heat in a time of 53,32 seconds and then won the women’s 400m final in a new record of 53,30 seconds.In the final she was followed by the Zambian sisters, Racheal Nachula (53,46) and Rebecca Nachula (53,95).Louw won the men’s long jump with a distance of 7,85 metres, finishing just 6 cm ahead of Yaw Fosu-Amoah of South Africa, while Larona Keosimile of Botswana came third in 7,22 m.Both Louw and Herunga have already qualified for the All Africa Games and will represent Namibia in Algeria in July.Namibia’s silver medalists were Roger Haitengi, Charlize van der Linde, Hitjiverue Kaanjuka and Setie Augusta.In the men’s tripe jump, Haitengi (15,52 m) finished a mere 2 cm behind Jason Kidza-Sewanyana of South Africa (15,54 m).Kaanjuka came second in the men’s 100m final in 10,54 seconds.The race was won by Marvin Bonde of Zimbabwe in 10,38, while another Namibian, Chriswell de Wee came third in 10,55 seconds.Augusta came second in the women’s high jump with a height of 1,60m.Selloane Ts’oaeli of Lesotho won the event in 1,64 m, while Ntunji Chellah of Zambia came third in 1,52 m.Van der Linde came second in the women’s discus with a distance of 36,98 m.Lindi Agricole of the Seychelles won the event in 42,04 m, while Veronica Abrahamse of South Africa came third in 36,78 m.namibiasport.com.naThe hosts, Namibia, came fourth with two gold, four silver and one bronze medal.A total of 10 southern African countries participated in the event, which was the third and final leg of the Southern African series, following events in Zimbabwe and Botswana.The competition also afforded athletes an opportunity to qualify for the All-Africa Games.The event was attended by the IAAF’s representative for Africa, Leonard Chuene, who expressed satisfaction with the talent coming through in the region.”We believe that, if you look at Africa, the southern region called Zone Six is the strongest and only viable region.If we continue like this, South Africa will have very strong neighbouring countries, so that when we want strong competition, we should not go abroad to Europe, but we can find very strong competition within the region itself,” he said.Namibia’s gold medallists were up-and-coming 400m athlete Tjipekapora Herunga and long jumper Stefan Louw.Herunga broke Agnes Samaria’s national 400m record of 53,83 seconds on two occasions.She first won her heat in a time of 53,32 seconds and then won the women’s 400m final in a new record of 53,30 seconds.In the final she was followed by the Zambian sisters, Racheal Nachula (53,46) and Rebecca Nachula (53,95).Louw won the men’s long jump with a distance of 7,85 metres, finishing just 6 cm ahead of Yaw Fosu-Amoah of South Africa, while Larona Keosimile of Botswana came third in 7,22 m.Both Louw and Herunga have already qualified for the All Africa Games and will represent Namibia in Algeria in July.Namibia’s silver medalists were Roger Haitengi, Charlize van der Linde, Hitjiverue Kaanjuka and Setie Augusta.In the men’s tripe jump, Haitengi (15,52 m) finished a mere 2 cm behind Jason Kidza-Sewanyana of South Africa (15,54 m).Kaanjuka came second in the men’s 100m final in 10,54 seconds.The race was won by Marvin Bonde of Zimbabwe in 10,38, while another Namibian, Chriswell de Wee came third in 10,55 seconds.Augusta came second in the women’s high jump with a height of 1,60m.Selloane Ts’oaeli of Lesotho won the event in 1,64 m, while Ntunji Chellah of Zambia came third in 1,52 m.Van der Linde came second in the women’s discus with a distance of 36,98 m.Lindi Agricole of the Seychelles won the event in 42,04 m, while Veronica Abrahamse of South Africa came third in 36,78 m.namibiasport.com.na