Ndou not a Jack of all Trades, but rather a Master of Jack
The second edition of the annual Curro Podium Grand Finale athletics meeting was for the fast and the furious.
More than half of the meeting records were bettered during Saturday’s spectacle at the Pilditch Stadium in Pretoria. In total, 48 of the 82 individual records were improved.
Eight of the nine sprint records for girls were broken, while three of the nine records for boys were also rewritten.
Menlopark, of Pretoria, retained their champions’ crown, with 43 025 points. Curro Hazeldean (41 281) and Noordheuwel (39 519) occupied the next two spots in the standings.
In a long list of impressive performances on the day, the most memorable was produced by Curro Hazeldean’s Matodzi Ndou, who won the 110m hurdles for boys u17 in an incredible time of 13.21 seconds.
He not only removed Naheem Jack‘s (Paarl Boys’ High) meeting record (13.37) from the books, but his time also bettered Jack’s SA Youth record (13.25), which the Booishaai blitz set last year at the SA Championships. Ndou’s mark also destroyed Jack’s 2024 world best, which had stood at 13.72.
Ndou didn’t start the day off as well as he finished it, as he was dethroned by his Curro Hazeldean teammate Lesibe Dikgale in the 400m hurdles for boys u17. Dikgale established a new record of 50.59 seconds in taking the win, which also improved on the previous mark of 51.01, which Ndou set in 2023.
Ndou had to settle for third on this occasion, in a time of 52.03, just behind Njabulo Mbatha (Tuks Sports School), who snatched the silver medal in 52 seconds flat. Dikgale’s performance is also the best for the age group so far in 2024.
Another two classy hurdle performances were produced by Prestige College’s Tumi Ramokgopa. She won the 100m (13.38) and 400m (59.42) and bettered the meeting records, both of which already stood next to her name. Her time in the one-lap event was also the best in the world in 2024.
Her 13.38 in the 100m hurdles was not far off this year’s world’s best, either, which belongs to Jamaica’s Bryana Davidson, at 13.32.
Alexandra Scheepers, from Curro Windhoek Gymnasium, showcased her class by setting a new record in the high jump for girls u15. She cleared the crossbar at 1.75m to equal her personal best.
Her winning height was also better than the heights achieved by the u19 and u17 champions at the meeting. Mia Janse van Rensburg (Garsfontein) won the u19 item with a jump of 1.70m, while Anjé Bezuidenhout won gold in the u17 age group by clearing 1.73m.
Last year, Scheepers won Namibia’s first-ever gold medal at an international meeting, as a 14-year-old, when she took the title at the World School Sports Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Displaying her all-round excellence, Scheepers also set a meeting record in the long jump with a best distance of 5.87 meters.
Afrikaans Hoër Meisieskool’s Timeke Coetzee (u19) was also in a class of her own as she set new records in the long jump (6.16m) and triple jump (12.73m).
The only girls’ sprint record that survived was the 400m girls u17 record of 54.30 that was set by Colene Scheepers in 2023. Scheepers won the u19 race in a new record time of 55.12 during Saturday’s meeting.
Chané Vermeulen (Randburg, u19), Rumé Burger (Oranje, u17), and Oluchi Ndubueze (Northcliff, u15) made the respective 100m and 200m records in their age groups their own.
Vermeulen won her two races in 11.79 and 23.60 seconds respectively. Astonishingly, five athletes dipped under the previous record in the 100m, with her Randburg teammate Kaili Botje (11.81) pushing her all the way to the line.
Burger, the daughter of former Blitzbok and Cheetahs rugby player, Phillip Burger, won her two races in 11.95 and 23.86 seconds.
Ndubueze, who participated as part of one of the Curro Invitation teams, blitzed the 100m and 200m in 12.05 and 24.90 seconds for her two gold medals.
