Parow Athletics track was the venue for this year’s Western Province Athletics High Schools’ championships at the weekend.
There was a lot at stake as the athletes battled it out for spots in the Western Cape High Schools athletics championships, to take place at Dal Josaphat Sports field in Paarl this coming weekend.
The athletes taking part in the provincial championships were selected from different zones which had their successive championships from the beginning of the year.
The Parow weather was conducive for athletics and the fans, mostly parents and teachers, were out in their numbers in anticipation of some explosive action.
It was up to the players to show what they were made of. They kept the fans, who packed the main grandstand, on their feet.
They were representing the Northern Zone, the Table Bay Zone and the Southern Zone.Â
The pupils from up north dominated a number of events, with youngsters from areas such as Parow, Bellville and the far north, repeatedly coming back to the podium.
The final team that will battle it out in the Western Cape championships this coming weekend will include 100 athletes from the Northern Zone. The likes of Monje Theart, from DF Malan High School, for instance, continued to dominate the shorter distances.
She will be running in the girls’ under-17 100m and 200m distances.
Tygerberg High School’s Hannah Stephens, on the other hand, will be on a mission of her own as she will look to make the qualification time for the nationals too.
However, the northern athletes did not really have it easy as their counterparts from the other zones kept them on their toes.
St Cyprian’s School’s Zinaam Klaasen, who represented the Table Bay Zone, was able to match the northern contingent.
She is, for the second year in a row, also going to represent the WP in the Western Cape championships in the girls’ under-19 100m and 200m distances.
Following the grueling championships, the WP High Schools’ Athletics executive committee gathered on Sunday to select the team that will compete in the WC championships.
Western Province Athletics High Schools Athletics chairman Deon Wertheim said 333 athletes from under-19 boys and girls were selected.
He described the team as the cream of the crop.
“The team that was selected after the weekend’s championships is made up of the best athletes from the Western Province. They come from different zones and we made sure we treated them equally,” he said.
“I think the efforts of parents and teachers have paid off. And we know that they will represent us with distinction in Paarl, come this weekend,” he said.
