Athletes shine at National Championships

WINDHOEK, 22 APR  – Ernst Narib, Even Tjiviju, Jolene Jacobs and Sade de Sousa were on Saturday crowned track champions of the annual Athletics Namibia (AN) National Track and Field Championships held at the Independence Stadium.
The event saw Namibia’s elite athletes competing for top honours, including gaining ranking points ahead of international competitions.
Tjiviju was crowned champion of the 100 metre (m) and 200m men’s category. He convincingly defeated defending champion Narib, who finished third in the 200m and then Sandro Diergaardt in the 100m race.
He ran a time of 10.54 seconds in the 100m while Diergaardt, who came second, ran 10.77 seconds and Sydney Kamaruuma finished third in a time of 10.83 seconds.
In the 200m sprint, Tjiviju ran 21.04 seconds, ahead of Ivan Geldenhuys who had a time of 21.14 seconds and Narib, who took third position with a time of 21.14 seconds as well.
In the 400m sprint, Narib successfully defended his title when he was crowned champion of the men’s category, with Geldenhuys taking second position and Mahmad Bock walking away with a bronze medal.
Narib ran 46.55 seconds while Geldenhuys and Bock clocked 46.95 and 47.19 seconds respectively.
In the women’s category, young athlete De Sousa continued with her dominance of the 200m category after defeating Mberihonga Kanduvazu, who finished second and Albertina Johannes who came third with a time of 25.99 seconds.
De Sousa ran a time of 24.62 seconds to retain her title, while Kanduvazu clocked 25.94 seconds for a silver medal.
In the 100m category, veteran athlete Jolene Jacobs retained her title after running a time of 11.54 seconds, while De Sousa finished second in 11.82 seconds.
Olivia Junias took third position on the day in the 100m category with a time of 12.95 seconds.
In the 400m category, Perpetua Simataa was crowned the new champion with a time of 58.93 seconds, while Ane Rautenbach came second with 59.51 seconds and Nandi Vass was third with a time of just over a minute (1.00.55).
Speaking to Nampa after the event, AN President Erwin Naimwaka said he was happy with the championships despite facing obstacles ahead of the event.
He said they had transport issues with athletes from outside Windhoek, but he was happy that most of them turned up.
“We are still working on making this event huge in the future. One of the greatest things was seeing those who competed at the championships giving it their all,” he said.
NAMPA