Athletics

Tjipekapora Herunga was Namibia’s best performer at the second leg of the South African Yellow Pages Athletics Series in Durban on Friday night, winning a silver medal in the women’s 400m race.

The race was won by Este Wittstock of Tuks Athletics Club in 53,82 seconds, followed by Herunga in 55,41 and Alet van Wyk of Tuks in 55,43.

Herunga’s time was slower than the 54,49 seconds she set when she won the first leg of the series in Port Elizabeth on February 19, but according to team manager Agnes Samaria, she struggled to adjust to the conditions.

Luketz Swartbooi gave a great performance to win the Chevron 10km Road Race in Windhoek on Saturday morning in an excellent time of 31 minutes 18 seconds.

Swartbooi, who recently turned 44, showed his younger opponents a clean pair of heels as he beat Johannes Naitembu into second place in a sprint to the line. Naitembu finished in the same time as Swartbooi, while Mynardt Kauanivi came third in 31:48.

Tjipekapora Herunga got off to a great start in the South African Yellow Pages Athletics Series when she won the women’s 400m in Port Elizabeth on Friday night.

Herunga came first in a time of 54,49 seconds, followed by Alet van Wyk of Tuks (55,62) and Eugenie Wicksell of Tuks (55,63).

It was not a very fast time and was well off her personal best and Namibian record time of 52,38 which she set at the 2007 All Africa Games in Algeria.

Erich Goeieman of the Walvis Bay Road Runners Club won the Rossing Marathon Championships for the third consecutive year on Saturday in a new personal best time of 2:21:19 for the 42km event.

It was a big improvement on his previous best of 2:25:57 which he established in 2008, while his winning time in 2009 was 2:26:14.

Goeieman finished well ahead of Martin Ntinda of the Golden Cheetahs Athletics Club who came second in 2:29:12, while Oscar Komeya of the Namibian Defence Force came third in 2:38:23.

The Rio Tinto Rossing Marathon Championships, organised by Swakop Striders, will take place for the 19th consecutive year in Swakopmund on Saturday, 20 February.

In its continuous bid to support the event, Rio Tinto Rossing Uranium has significantly increased the prize money from previous years. This year a total of N$60 000 in prize money will be available with the men and women’s marathon winners each receiving N$10 000.

Welwitchia Athletics Club was the overall winner of the Athletics Namibia Club Championships in Oshakati on Saturday. Welwitschia won the championships with a total of 73 points, receiving the winner’s cheque of N$5 000 from Athletics Namibia.

Windhoek Hochland Sport Club came second with 63 points, receiving the runners-up cheque of N$2 500, while Ohangwena Star Athletics Club came third with 43 points, receiving N$1 000.

2009 was a watershed for Athletics Namibian as Alpha Kangueehi’s controversial reign as president finally came to an end. Kangueehi had presided over Namibian athletics for more than five years during which time sponsorships dried up while national track and field as well as cross-country championships steadily diminished.

The Frank Fredericks Foundation announced several scholarships totalling N$36 000 for top Namibian junior athletes at a press conference on Tuesday. A total of six athletes were beneficiaries of the scholarships, sponsored by Namibia Beverages, following their performances at the Coca Cola Frank Fredericks Invitational in April 2009.

Four athletes, namely Hardus Maritz, Merilyn Diamond, Dantago Gurirab and Klaudia Moses received N$6 000, after excelling in two events each, while Otilie Shiyakela and Jolene Jacobs each received N$3 000 for excelling in one event.

Namibia’s Beata Naigambo produced an excellent performance on Sunday when she won the Eindhoven Marathon in Holland in a new Namibian record time of 2:31:01. Naigambo’s winning time was well below the previous Namibian record of 2:32:30 which was established by Helalia Johannes at the Dublin Marathon in October 2008, while it was also a big improvement on Naigambo’s previous personal best time of 2:33:05.

Johannes Naitembu and Helena Iipinge each received N$10 000 after being crowned as the overall Men and Women’s winners of the 21km Old Mutual Victory Races series at the awards ceremony in Windhoek on Wednesday.

According to the rules of the series, the overall category winners were determined by taking the two best times of an athlete in the series. Athletes also had to participate in the final in Windhoek and at least one other event of the series.