Hurdlers’ Harmse and Hattingh catch the spotlight at Noordheuwel Top 15
It was a typical hot summer day on the highveld, and the athletes produced even hotter performances during Noordheuwel’s Top 15 meeting in Krugersdorp on Wednesday.
The athletics meeting was hosted on Nories’ tartan track which, at 1 777 metres above sea level, is the highest of its kind in Africa.
The best performance according to the APE points system belonged to Llewellyn Harmse, of Monument, who won the u19 400m hurdles for boys in 52.15 seconds. That gave him 971 points, which would have been good for a bronze medal at last year’s ASA Junior Championship (u20).
In the u17 400m hurdles, Franco Hattingh (Kempton Park) also produced an impressive performance, winning in 52.82 seconds.
Two of the three track records bettered during the meeting happened in the sprint hurdles events. Enrique Bosch (Helpmekaar) won the 100m hurdles for boys u15 in 13.08 seconds to remove Francois Tredoux of Waterkloof’s record of 13.12 seconds from the record book. That mark had stood since 2008.
In the boys’ u19 110m hurdles, Menlopark’s Werner Bezuidenhout flew to victory in an excellent time of 13.76 seconds, which improved upon the previous record of 14.11, set by Roelof van der Walt (Helpmekaar) in 2018.
Bezuidenhout added another gold medal in the 100m sprint, clocking 10.66 seconds. The competition was a lot tighter than in the hurdles, however, with Gordon Maluleke (Oos-Moot, 10,78), Cheswill Jooste (Noordheuwel, 10.88), and Shawlynn Mienies (Dinamika, 10.94) all dipping under 11 seconds.
Maluleke claimed gold in the 200m sprint in a good time of 21.83 seconds, with Mienies (22.28) on his heels.
Jooste, a massive counterattacking threat, will be a strong contender for the fullback berth in the South African Schools’ rugby team later this year. No doubt, some opposition rugby coaches are losing a bit of sleep ahead of their matches against Noordheuwel this season.
The South African u16 champion of 2023, Jaco van der Westhuyzen (Ben Viljoen), showed a clean pair of heels to his opponents in the u16 100m sprint, winning in 10.90 seconds. He is the son of the former Springbok, Sharks, and Blue Bulls flyhalf/fullback, Jaco van der Westhuyzen.
Van der Westhuyzen Jr.’s performances helped his school, Ben Viljoen, from Groblersdal, to be crowned the champions of the smaller schools’ section of the meeting. He did the sprint double by adding a win in the 200m in 22.14 seconds. Oos-Moot’s Leandro Delport (22.17), however, gave him a proper run for his money.
In the u17 100m, Jeugland’s Ofentse Nondabula (10.65) claimed the gold medal in a faster time than Bezuidenhout’s winning mark in the u19 race.
Roux van Zyl impressed in the u19 400m, taking victory in 48.06 seconds.
Montana’s Marcel Brits produced a 915-point performance in the 1 500m for boys u17, with an outstanding time of four minutes and 3.56 seconds. He also held off Zwartkop’s Rico Coetzer (4:04.62) for the win.
