ISAZ
Qualifiers a stroll for Elite Athletes
Chengelo
Elite Athletics Squad travelled with the rest of the school team to Lechwe
School, Kitwe for the 2015 Independent Schools Association of Zambia Athletics Qualifiers on Saturday 30th May.
Chigo
Kawonga was too old for this year’s competition and remained in Mkushi.
However, Herbert Mithi, Maria Bangala and Johanna Bangala were ready to compete
with the top athletes from the Copperbelt ISAZ schools.
With Herbert
competing in the 1500m, javelin and triple jump for his age group and both
girls running in the 100m, 200m, 400m and both relays, it was to be a busy day
for all three athletes but one with plenty of opportunity for ISAZ records if
not personal bests.
Herbert was
up first in the under-16 boys’ 1500m and led from start to finish to win in a
personal best time of 4 minutes 50.12 seconds.
Johanna and
Maria then started their busy schedules with the 200m. Both sisters won their
heats in fast times on a relatively poor track compared to previous ISAZ competitions.
Johanna’s time of 27.52 seconds was over a second outside the under-14 girls’ ISAZ
record and her personal best of 26.30 set at last year’s finals. Maria was
running her first timed 200m and finished in 28.20, only seven hundredths of a
second slower than the under-16 girls’ ISAZ record. Maria will be hoping to
claim that record at the finals, where she will be running on a much faster
track.
Meanwhile,
Herbert was competing in the triple jump competition and qualified for the
finals with an effort of 11.90m in a close competition in which the ISAZ record
of 12.06m was threatened.
The 400m
races were up next and Johanna ran first, winning in a time of 1 minute 2.08
seconds. This was Johanna’s best time ever on grass and she will be hoping to
beat her own ISAZ record of 1 minute 0.12 seconds at the finals. Maria
qualified by finishing first in a time of 1 minute 5.57 seconds, an ISAZ
record. She will be hoping to better that at the finals at OYDC in two weeks’
time.
While the
girls won their races, Herbert threw the javelin far enough to qualify for the
finals to ensure he will be competing in his three favourite events at OYDC on
13th June. The competition will be stronger on that day with the top
four competitors from the Lusaka qualifiers joining the four qualifiers from
the Copperbelt competition.
Johanna and
Maria then both won their 100m heats in good times. Johanna recorded 13.56
seconds to win by daylight, with Maria clocking a slightly faster 13.33 seconds
in the under-16 race. Maria will be up against one of the best sprinters in the
country in Suwilanji Mpondela at the finals in two weeks’ time. Suwlianji beat
Johanna in the under-14 100m race last year, with Johanna defeating her in the
200m.
There was a
familiar face in the under-19 boys 100m race as Kikwanza Sondashi won in 11.22
seconds. The younger members of the squad were reunited for the first time since Kikwanza left
Chengelo to join Trident School during the December holidays.
Next up were
the relays. Johanna and her under-14 girls’ team won their 4x400m race in a
time of 4 minutes 41.12 seconds, while Maria’s under-16 team won in a slightly
faster 4 minutes 39.32. There was disappointment for Johanna as the 4x100m team
were disqualified for an illegal handover after winning the race easily. Maria brought
the under-16 team home in a blistering time of 54.37, a new ISAZ record.
The athletes
will now return to training on Monday to continue preparing themselves for the
Finals in Lusaka.
