Eight gold medals and four silvers for Elite Squad at ISAZ Finals!

Elite Athletes help Copperbelt to ISAZ Finals win

On 13^th June, the Chengelo Elite Athletics Squad travelled to Lusaka as part of the Chengelo School Team to compete in the ISAZ Athletics Finals. The competition was tough, with athletes from many schools who had qualified from the regional competitions two weeks earlier.

Herbert Mithi was running in the first race of the day, the 1500m. He ran a sensible pace, maintaining his speed as fellow competitors fell further and further behind him. He eventually won the gold medal comfortably in a time of 4 minutes 56.58 seconds.

Herbert ran a sensible race to win the 1500m

Herbert ups the tempo on his final lap

Sisters Johanna and Maria ran their respective 400m races next, Johanna winning the under-14 edition in 1 minute 1.56 seconds, a good time considering the blustery conditions.

Johanna started strongly in the 400m

Maria was up against Busiwa Asinga, one of the country’s top young athletes. Busiwa started fast and finished strongly as Maria finished a close second in 1 minute 2.52 seconds.

Maria was running from lane 1 in her 400m race

The 100m brought some more fast times for the girls, with Johanna winning easily in 13.08 seconds (video below). Maria was up against African Youth Championships finalist Suwilanji Mpondela, finishing second to the girl from International School of Lusaka. Maria recorded a time of 13.28 seconds, with Suwilanji breaking the ISAZ record in 12.33 seconds.

Johanna in the thick of the action in the 100m

Maria started well but couldn't catch Suwilanji Mpondela

Meanwhile, Herbert was setting a new ISAZ record of 40.88m in the boys under-16 javelin on his way to winning the event. He also finished second in the triple jump with a great jump of 12.55m.

 

Herbert showed his athletic talent by winning 1500m and javelin gold as well as triple jump silver

Johanna then ran 200m in 26.98 seconds to win gold in the under-14 category. Maria was again up against Busiwa Asinga in her 200m race and she once again finished a close second in a personal best time of 26.50 (video below).

Johanna's time of 26.98 seconds was her second fastest 200m ever

Maria set a new personal best of 26.50 seconds in the 200m

Soon after, Maria was winning a gold medal as part of the Chengelo 4x100m relay team, anchoring them to victory in a scorching time of 54.03 seconds, a new ISAZ record.

 

Maria brings home the baton for an ISAZ record in the 4x100m relay

Johanna and Maria then both ran the final leg for their respective 4x400m relay teams, with the under-14 team winning in 4 minutes 39.75 seconds and the victorious under-16 team a fraction quicker in 4 minutes 39.56 seconds.

 

The under-14 4x400m team won by an impressive margin

Maria ran the final lap in the 4x400m relay

All in all, it was a successful day for the Elite Squad, picking up eight gold medals and four silver medals between them. The athletes were keen to get straight back into training and will no doubt be giving their all in sessions after seeing the best athletes that ISAZ schools has to offer.

Herbert enjoying the atmosphere after winning three medals