After some brilliant performances by Nedbank running club athletes at the South African schools Track & Field Championships last week, the stars of the future from the Nedbank running club continued shining bright at the South African u16, u18 and u20 Track & Field Championships which were held in Potchefstroom.
In total, 10 medals were won by Nedbank running club athletes with Jason Bowers leading the charge with his gold medal in the 5000m and a day later took bronze in the 3000m in the u20 category. Ethan Olivier also had a great championship picking up gold in the u18 triple jump followed by a bronze in the long jump. Central Gauteng’s Armand van der Walt blitzed to a 10.44 100m in the boys u18 final which saw him pick up the bronze medal. Other medal winners from Nedbank running club included Tanika Smith with a bronze in the girls u20 triple jump, Marli Dimond and Pabalo Radebe finishing in the silver and bronze medal positions in the u18 800m, Mieke Smit picking up bronze in the girls u18 3000m and Kgotso Ramathe getting a bronze in the u20 400m hurdles.
Nedbank running club national team manager Nick Bester was very happy with the athletes’ performances. “It was a very good showing by our Nedbank RC juniors who are showing that the country has a bright future ahead in athletics,” said Bester. “In the girls u18 800m I was very impressed with the way Marli and Pabalo ran with Pabalo just missing out on a World junior championships qualifier by only a second.”
In Standerton at the Gold 4-in-1 event, Nedbank running clubs Chrizell Roberts made light work on what was a training run ahead of the upcoming Two Oceans Marathon with an easy victory in the marathon, running a time of 3:08:54.
The next big event on the calendar is the upcoming Totalsports Two Oceans 56km and half marathon which takes place over 16 and 17 April over the Easter weekend. Nedbank running club have a strong team assembled for both the half marathon and 56km and will be profiling some of our big stars between now and race day. The event will also be broadcast live on SuperSport with the half marathon on Saturday and the 56km on Sunday.
We look forward to welcoming many of you to our green gazebos after the race to share the road storys from the day! For those that won’t be in Cape Town for the event, support your athletes by watching the live TV broadcast and tagging Nedbank running club in your well wishes messages over our Twitter, Facebook and Instagram platforms.