South Africa’s top up-coming middle distance stars must bear the brunt of running most of their races in the north. Despite altitude struggles though, they still approach every race with a ‘no excuses’ attitude. Let’s have a look at some of the top long- and middle-distance performers from the first leg of Varsity Athletics:
Anthony Timoteus
Winning the men’s 5000m in a very good time of 14:38.91 comes as no surprise to UWC’s Anthony Timoteus. After losing out on a victory against Pukke’s Rantso Mokopane in 2016, Timoteus had his mind set on winning this time around. He bagged full points for U-Dubs and a great time at altitude to go along with it.
Sherilene Gelderblom
Slowly but surely making her mark on the senior athletics scene, Sherilene Gelderblom from Pukke is in the shape of her life. From winning the 4km South African Cross Country Championships in George last year to taking on highly-ranked athletes such as Kesa Molotsane and Lizeria Fereirra in 2017, Gelderblom once again powered through to take the women’s 1500m in 4:27.57 in Potchefstroom; a time that equates to anything under 4min20sec along the coast.
Rantso Mokopane
Pukke’s Rantso Mokopane has the habit of stealing the show at the right time. In Potchefstroom (his training base) he obliterated the men’s 1500m field as he cruised to a comfortable victory in 4:46.38. The second athlete only came in 6sec behind the in-shape Mokopane. After narrowly missing last year’s Olympic qualification mark, Mokopane has been hard at work perfecting almost every aspect from racing to training and nutrition. Can he dip under 4:45 in his non-specialist 1500m on 31 March? Come and witness greatness unfold at Tuks.
Henco Uys
A relatively new name to athletics enthusiasts, Henco Uys is set to make a name for himself in the coming months. Boasting the perfect physique for a middle-distance runner, Henco Uys’ 1:49.87 Varsity Athletics 800m victory comes as no surprise. Training alongside Caster Semenya, Rantso Mokopane and Andre Olivier only means good things. Depending on the weather man, Uys is set to dip under 1:48 on Tuks’ newly-laid Mondo surface on 31 March.
The season kicked off in fine style and building up to the second leg of Varsity Athletics and the South African Athletics Championships, athletes are getting fitter and their times and distances faster, further, higher.
By Reginald Hufkie
