Local athletes prepare early for SA Champs
This 17-year-old club has an incredible record of winning a number of trophies in the SA champs and other elite tournaments.
As most people look forward to the Christmas break’s festivities, a trio of athletes from the Peak Performance Athletics Club has decided to dedicate most of their time to the track.
Carla Lowe, Brittany Anderson and Ntando Motsepe have been sweating it out on the track at Ruimsig Athletics Stadium in a bid to put on a great performance at the South African Championships next year.
This 17-year-old club, founded by Maryna van Niekerk, who is also the head coach, has an incredible record of winning a number of trophies in the SA Champs and other elite tournaments. The club’s achievements are no surprise as Maryna is a renowned coach who has trained athletes on an international scale.
Recently the trio won three medals at the Sub-youth interprovincial tournament in Pretoria. In an interview with 17-year-old Carla, from Krugersdorp, she said she has been with the club for 10 years and specialises in Triple Jump. “I started competing when I was 15 but before that I did heptathlon,” she said.
The heptathlon is a track and field combined event contest made up of seven events.
Brittany, the long-jumper, has just made a return to the sport after deciding to pause her career for some time, said her return was inspired by her ambition to compete at a mature level. “I trained with the club for two years and then stopped. I decided to make a comeback because I wanted to compete at a higher level,” she explained.
The 18-year-old Allen Glen High School matriculant, Ntando, who joined the club this year, said he is training to improve his disappointing finish at this year’s SA championships. “I competed in the senior [division] this year and I ended up in fourth position,” he said.
The talented youngster, like his teammates who dream of taking medals home next year, added that he wants to compete in his age group, where he stands better a chance of walking away with some silverware.
Ntando specialises in the 100m sprint, but says he is also keen to try out for the 200m in 2018.
The club members train at Ruimsig Athletics Stadium on a regular basis.
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