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19/10/2015

Beautiful weather led to top class performances when senior and junior athletes from clubs across the province, and beyond, came to the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University for a pre-season Madibaz EPA athletics meet on Saturday.

Athletes from as far as the South-Western District took part, but Madibaz dominated the event in numbers and achievements.

"We had a wonderful day at the track, with some really good performances from our participating athletes," said Madibaz athletics club president Sergio Mullins.

Mullins was especially impressed with performances on the track, highlighting the 100m, 200m and 400m events as some of the best of the day.

200m winner, and second place finisher in the 100m, Lonwabo Majerman, 24, was one of the stand-out sprinters on the day and was very happy about his performance.

"I had a great run, and I am more than happy with my time. It was a tough race, the other guys were really good, so I had to work hard and I am happy with the win," said Majermen after his 200m win, in a time of 21.96 seconds.

In the meantime high jumper Garth Ellis walked away with a win after clearing a height of 1,95m.
"The jumpers could not have asked for better conditions. Competing is always fun, and getting the win at home is always something special," said the 23-year-old.

He admitted that 1,95m was not his best performance, but it was enough to secure the victory and assist with his pre-season preparations.

"My personal best is 2,1m, but I am still nursing an ankle injury and didn't see the need to push the boundaries ahead of the coming athletics season. Today's event helped a lot, showing me where I need to focus and improve."

Women's shot put and discus athlete Ischke Senekal, 22, said she did not make the distances she would have liked, but was happy to take the home ground win in both her events.

"Sometimes when it gets too hot, and your hands are sweaty, you struggle to get your grip right. But overall I had a good day on the field and I could identify some areas in my technique that I can improve on."

Senekal, who was recently named Madibaz Athletics female athlete of the year, achieved a distance of 13,50m in the shot put and 47,51m in the discus.
 

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