Chengelo Elite Athletics Squad

Chengelo Elite Athletics Squad

Saturday, 15 April 2017

Chengelo Squad enjoy successful day at All-Comers Challenge


Four athletes traveled to Heroes Stadium in Lusaka on 8th April to take part in the All-Comers Challenge. This was an event involving the best athletes from around the country that would give under-18 and senior World Championship hopefuls the chance to qualify for these events by meeting the qualifying standards.
 
There were five men’s 100m heats and Sambazya Ngulube ran in the very first one. He had a fair start but transitioned well and accelerated away to win in a time of 11.14 seconds. David Kumwenda ran in the second heat which had a higher level of competition. He finished in fifth place, just missing out on his personal best time.


 Soon after the 100m races, Maria and Johanna Bangala were ready for their 400m race. They were up against an athlete from Zimbabwe but had no trouble in finishing in first and second place in the end, Johanna clocking 57.79 seconds and Maria recording a time of 60.07 seconds. This was a decent time for Maria considering she had only trained twice in the past four weeks!


David Kumwenda was also competing in the long jump and produced a great series of jumps, many over 6 metres. His best distance was 6.27m, just 3cm short of his personal best, earning him second place overall.



Overall, it was another great experience for the athletes, who were also inspired by experiencing first-hand Sydney Siame’s new Zambian record of 9.88 seconds for 100m. The opportunity for the Chengelo athletes gave them a chance to see where they are personally and compare themselves to the very best Zambian athletics has to offer.



After the event, the Congolese Athletics Federation saw the official results and selected Johanna Bangala to compete for them at the IAAF World U-18 Athletics Championships in Nairobi, Kenya in July. Congratulations to Johanna and the entire Bangala family. Start preparing now and make us proud!

Saturday, 6 August 2016

Elite Squad perform well at Secondary Sports Day

success at Annual Sports Day




The CEA Squad had a week to remember as three of the four impressed in the traditional King and Queen of the Sprints competition before all four made a huge impact on Chengelo Secondary Sports Day.


David Kumwenda was the youngest competitor in the King of the Sprints race on Wednesday, lining up against half a dozen sixth-form students and finishing fourth out of seven. Johanna and Maria Bangala finished first and second in the Queen of the Sprints in a repeat of last year’s race!



Sports Day started with some field events on Friday evening. David Kumwenda won both the triple jump and the long jump for his Ndale house team, setting a new school record and personal best with a massive 6.26m long jump!
























On Saturday morning, all four athletes ran in the 200m first. Emmanuel finished third in a tough race, Johanna, Maria and David all finished first in fast times. (Johanna – 25.91s, Maria – 26.22s, David 24.84s).


After a short break while tug-o’-war was taking place, the 400m races were ready to start. Emmanuel went one better in his race, finishing second in a respectable 1 minute 3.50 seconds. Johanna ran just over 60 seconds to win by a massive margin, while Maria ran an excellently paced race to win in 1 minute 2.00 seconds.


The two oldest squad members ran in the 100m, David winning in a personal best time of 11.75 seconds and Maria victorious in a school record 12.94 seconds.


All four athletes took part in both relays to finish the day off, with five victories out of eight and heartbreak for Emmanuel as his team dropped the baton on the final change over when victory looked likely. David was the hero as he brought home his 4x100m team home in first place and Johanna repeated an unusual feat she achieved two years ago at ISAZ, lapping another team’s third runner in the 4x400m as she ran the final leg.




At the end of the morning, it was David who was celebrating, his six victories contributing to Ndale’s winning total. The Bangalas’ Kaimbi house were 50 points adrift in second place, but they can take pride in their individual performances and relentless effort on the day.