RYAN Williams of Windhoek Hochland Sport Club (WHSC) was the top performer at the Khomas Athletics Championships which took place at Windhoek’s Independence Stadium on Saturday.
Williams won the men’s discus with a great throw of 44,70m which was quite close to his own national record of 45,95 which he set last year.
Williams was a comfortable winner, with Pieter Jan Swanepoel of WHSC coming second in 39,72m, while Arab Ludwig of the Namibian Police Athletics Club came third in 38,03m.
Williams also came second in the men’s shot put with a distance of 11,46m, while Pieter Jan Swanepoel won the gold medal with a distance of 13,75m.
The men’s sprints saw a big turnout and also delivered some exciting races as Namibia’s top sprinters were involved in several heats.
Even Tjiviju of Namibia Correctional Services Club team was the overall winner of the 100m in a fast time of 10,65 seconds, with Sydney Kamuaruuma of Namib Lions second in 10,86 and Ismael Tjiramba of Unam third in 10,87.
The 200m went down to the wire with Ernst Narib of NamPol just pipped Tjiviju to the line, taking gold in 21,57 seconds while Tjiviju was second in 21,58 and Kamuaruuma third in 21,66.
Tjiviju said he was happy with his time and aiming to reclaim the national titles.
“It was my first 200m race of the year and it was quite windy, so I’m happy with my performance. There’s still a lot of time before the National Championships and my aim is to take the 200m title back from Ernst (Narib) who won it last year,” he said.
Narib, who is currently training in Pretoria, South Africa said he was also satisfied with his performance after coming back from an injury.
“I’ve just come back from a hamstring injury and it felt good through the race so I’m happy with that, but my time wasn’t that great. But I’ll continue training in Pretoria and this year I am aiming to break the national record of 46,14 seconds,” he said.
Narib’s personal best, which he set in 2015, is just outside the record at 46,17 seconds, while he last year also came close with a time of 46,29 seconds.
Narib also came third in the 400m with a time of 48,73 seconds, while Thasiso Aochamub of Future Energy Athletics Club came first in 48,32 and Thomas Ndunge of Future Energy second in 48,61.
The 22-year-old Aochamub, who trains in Karibib, said he hoped to still go much faster this year.
“I’m happy with my performance and my aim this year is to qualify for the African Championships. My personal best time if 48,32 seconds but I’m aiming to reach 46 seconds this season,” he said.
Daniel Nghipandulwa of Nampol won the 800m in 2:01,74, while Oscar Komeya of NDF won the 1 500m in 4:07,03, and Thomas Rainhold of Correctional Services the 5 00m in 15:41,86.
Mell Theunissen of Windhoek Gymnasium Athletics Club (WGAC) won the 110m hurdles in 15,13 seconds while Warren Goreseb of Unam won the 400m hurdles in 59,91 seconds.
Armand Niemand of WGAC won the high jump in 1,75m; Chenoult Coetzee of Swakop Striders won the long jump in 6,91m; Dennis Orlam of Rehoboth Athletics Club won the triple jump in 13,75m; Arab Ludwig of Nampol won the hammer throw in 24,48m; and Bernhardt Wessels of WHSC won the javelin in 53,81m.
In the women sprints, Globine Mayova of Nampol won the 100m in 12,95 seconds and Desiree Kandovazu of Correctional Services won the 200m in 25,39.
Danja Meyer of WGAC won the 400m in 1:03,90; Cindy Xu won the 800m in 2:39,78; and Juane Oberholster of WHSC the 1 500m in 6:46,71.
Corlia Kruger of Triomf Athletics Club won the 100m hurdles in 17,40 seconds and Anika van Niekerk of WGAC won the 400m hurdles in 1:12,90.
Natalie Louw of Triomf won the high jump in 1,60m; Chantelle du Toit of Triomf won the long jump in 5,36m; and Arina Gouws of WGAC won the javelin in 29,98m.
Karlien Botha of WHSC excelled to win three titles – the shot put in 9,92m; the discus in 34,22m; and the hammer throw in 26,83m.
The event was sponsored by Khomas Medical Centre Auas Hills.
Conrad Blaauw, meanwhile, continued his great form in Europe, when he once again broke the Namibian indoor high jump record with a height of 2,08m at a meeting in Italy on Saturday.
