The South African Junior and Youth Championships taking place in Bloemfontein on Friday and Saturday promise to be a highlight of the 2004 track and field season.
More than 1Â 200 athletes have been entered by their respective provinces for the championships and among them are all the top junior and youth athletes who have excelled so far this season in meetings leading up to the championships.
The championships will also serve as the trials for the selection of the South African team to participate in the IAAF World Junior Championships in Grossetto, Italy, from July 13 to 18 this year.
Several junior athletes have excelled in the recent Absa Series and they are expected to produce outstanding performances in the championships.
All eyes will be on young Khotso Mokoena who this year has set new South African records in the long and triple jump for junior men, and who is one of the medal hopefuls for the IAAF World Junior Championships. Two new South African junior records are not out of his reach and he will also be eyeing the Olympic qualifying standard in both events.
Western Province’s Simeon Mars will also be out to book his World Championships place in the triple jump.
Leigh Julius, who has dominated the sprints in the Absa Series, is also in line to provide some of the highlights of the meeting. He will be in action in the junior men’s 100m and 200m and will not be easily beaten to the gold medals.
The 400m hurdles for junior men will see two of the greatest junior prospects in the country in action. LJ van Zyl, the reigning South African senior champion and gold medallist at the last World Junior Championships, will take on Wouter le Roux, silver medallist at last year’s World Youth Championships. Le Roux excelled in the Absa Series and this duel will be one of the highlights.
The junior men’s 800m will be a hard-fought affair when Bonolo Maboa, one of South Africa’s bright new prospects in the 800m, Isaac Mbuyase, Samson Ngoepe, Chris Gebhardt, Bongani Mgemane and Sydney Mofologela lock horns. Maboa and Mbuyase, winner of the bronze medal at last year’s World Youth Championships, will contest the gold medal in the 1Â 500m.
The women’s middle distances will see young Angela Wagner, one of the top three 800m runners in the country at the moment, in action in the youth event. Her teammate, Claudia York, will be after the gold medal in the junior event.
Among other women’s middle-distance athletes who will provide top performances will be Nicolene van Rooyen, Chanelle Olivier, Christine Kalmer and Irvette van Blerk.
In the steeplechase events all eyes will be on the trio Mapaseka Makhanya, Anna Moeketsi and Noelene Conrad, who will be striving for the qualifying standard. Mandla Maseko will produce the fireworks in the junior men’s event.
The junior women’s high jump will see Anika Smit meeting the challenges of Rene van der Merwe and Tanya Joubert. Young Marli Knoetze will be after the South African record in the discus for young women. She is also the favourite to take the gold in the shot-put event.
The South African Junior and Youth Championships have become known in the past for producing new stars and this year’s event will be no exception.
The action starts on the first day at 7am with walking events, the first track event at 8am and the last event at 7.55pm.
The first and second day’s events start at the same time with the last event at 7.25pm.
‘Like the Senior Championships later in the month, the Junior Championships will serve as the trials for the IAAF World Junior Championships. This alone is enough to let the sparks fly in Bloemfontein,†said Banele Sindani, Athletics SA chief executive. — Sapa