Namibia dominated the Confederation of School Sport Associations of Southern Africa (Cossasa) Athletics Youth Championships in Gaberone, Botswana over the weekend, winning a total of 58 medals. Zimbabwe came second with 31 medals while Zambia came third with 22 medals.
The Namibian team of 56 athletes brought home 58 medals in total, consisting of 23 gold, 22 silver and 13 bronze medals. Zimbabwe won 7 gold, 12 silver and 12 bronze medals and Zambia 7 gold, 6 silver and 9 bronze medals.
Botswana came fourth with 3 gold, 2 silver and 4 bronze medals while Lesotho came fifth with 2 gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze medals.
A total of 320 children from the five countries competed in the Junior U13 and Senior U17 categories at the Cossasa Youth Championships.
The Director of the Namibia School Sport Union Solly Duiker said he expected Namibia to do well due to their solid preparation for the event.
“We prepared very well for the championships. After our national championships we brought in three coaches from South Africa who helped prepare our athletes in the sprints, jumps and throwing events, and this paid off,” he said.
Namibian athletes won most of the individual awards on offer.
Namibian sprinter Israel Tjiramba was the top Boys U17 athlete with a total of 1 814 points. He won gold in both the 100m and 200m sprints.
Christien Kruger was the top Girls U17 athlete with 2 254 points. She won gold medals in the long jump and 4x100m relay, and silver medals in the 100m hurdles and high jump.
Thabo Matsagopame of Botswana was the top Boys U13 athlete with a total of 1 605 points while Shalamaaz Mutzengerere of Zimbabwe was the top Girls U13 athlete with a total of 1 585 points.
Two other Namibians who won awards for individual performances were Abrille Beukes, who won the Girls U17 high jump with a height of 1,60m and Jewel Rae Engelbrecht, who won the Girls U13 high jump with a height of 1,50m.
Other Namibian athletes who excelled were Bredell Wessels, who won the Boys U17 javelin with a distance of 61,76m and Corne Agenbach who Boys U17 discus with a distance of 45,42m.
The powerhouse of the SADC region, South Africa however did not participate for the third year in a row since it is still busy restructuring school sport. Botswana also had a weakened team since its teachers are not coaching school athletes anymore following a strike last year.
The complete results are attached.
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| Cossasa results.xls | 48.41 KB |