Building momentum in her fledgling career, Dane Roets shone on the third and final day of the Twizza ASA U18 and U20 Track & Field Championships at the Dal Josaphat Athletics Stadium in Paarl on Saturday (30 March 2019).
Roets, who earned bronze at the Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires last year, opened her account in the youth girls’ shot put final with a 17.15m heave.
The Central Gauteng athlete, who also won the national discus throw title earlier in the week, went on to launch a best attempt of 17.69m* to break Lezaan Jordaan’s seven-year-old national youth record of 17.52m.
Athletics Free State’s Phethisang Makhethe was in super form in the youth girls hammer throw final. Makhethe produced a winning effort of 65.07m, falling less than two metres short of the national youth record held by Tharina van der Walt (66.99m) as she showcased her tremendous potential.
“I just want to keep doing what I’m doing and if my best is not good enough then that’s ok, but I practice hard like everyone else here, so I just want to do my best every time,” Makhethe said.
On the track, Sinesipho Dambile (Athletics Gauteng North) charged to a stunning victory in the youth boys 200m final, clocking 20.68 seconds to finish 0.81 ahead of his nearest competitor.”It’s not easy to go sub-21 but I just kept pushing myself because I wanted to be the SA champion,” Dambile said.
In the junior women’s flat 400m sprint, world junior 400m hurdles champion Zeney van der Walt (AGN) stormed to victory in a personal best of 53.74 seconds.
“I’m really happy with the result,” Van der Walt said. “I wanted to work on my speed but I’m going to focus on the hurdles again for the rest of the season.”
Fellow former world youth champion Breyton Poole earned a convincing win for host province Boland in the junior men’s high jump final, clearing the bar at 2.16m to win by nine centimetres.
The AGN team finished on top of the medals table with 30 gold medals, 31 silver and 16 bronze.
* Record is subject to standard ratification processes
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About Twizza:
A proudly South African carbonated soft drink, Twizza was created in 2003. We pride ourselves on providing the consumer with an authentic taste experience that rivals the global brands.
About Athletics South Africa:
Athletics South Africa (ASA) is the national governing body for the sport of athletics (including Track and Field, Cross Country, Road Running and Race Walking) in South Africa, is a member of the IAAF and the Confederation of African Athletics. The association is based in Johannesburg.
ENDS