They braved the horrid weather, staved off competition and took home a medal haul of note. The athletics teams of the North-West University (NWU) produced an excellent display during the recently held USSA Athletics Track and Field Championships in Stellenbosch.

The NWU’s A team finished second on the combined male and female points log, with the men’s team finishing first in their division, and the women’s team third. When the medals were tallied up, the NWU came out on top, with 33 in total. Although this was the same total as that of the overall winners – the University of Pretoria (UP) – the NWU claimed more gold medals: 14 to the UP’s 12. The NWU also won 11 silver and eight bronze medals.

Three USSA records were set during the event, and they all belonged to NWU athletes. Neheng Khatala set a new 10 000 m record when she crossed the finish line in a blistering 33:43.59 minutes. She also set a new USSA half-marathon record with a time of 1:14:14, about nine minutes ahead of the runner-up. They tried, but Neheng could not be caught.

Jo-Ané van Dyk set a new USSA javelin record with a throw of 62,70 m. To put this achievement into context: Savannah Combrink from the NWU’s B team finished second overall with a throw of 50,29 m. The third place was a distant 43,04 m.

“I am extremely proud of the team. We were one of the smaller teams entered, and we still managed to secure an overall second place. This is testament to the massive effort by each member of the team in extremely tough, cold and windy conditions. We also had a good blend of youth and experience in the team, which definitely makes the future look bright for us,” says Wade Fraser, athletics manager of the NWU’s Potchefstroom Campus.

Record breaker! Neheng Khatala.