Young athletes show massive talent at Curro Podium Grand Finale
Independent school group Curro Holdings hosted its prestigious High School athletics event, the Curro Podium Grand Finale on Saturday, 17 February 2024, at Pilditch Stadium in Pretoria.
The meeting was indeed for the fast and furious with 48 of the overall 82 individual Curro Podium records being broken. Eight of the nine sprint records for girls were broken, while three of the nine records for boys were also wiped from the record books.
Schools competed for three titles – best girls team; best boys team and best combined team.
Curro Hazeldean claimed the best boys’ team title, with Die Hoërskool Menlopark second and Afrikaans Hoër Seusnkool ranking third. Die Hoërskool Menlopark emerged as the best girls’ team while Afrikaans Hoër Meisieskool claimed the second spot and Noordheuwel third.
In the combined team category, Die Hoërskool Menlopark kept their crown as champions with 43 025 points while Curro Hazeldean (41 281) and Noordheuwel (39 519) placed second and third respectively.
“We are incredibly proud of our Curro Podium series – from the inaugural meeting last year, followed by the subsequent North and South regional events. Curro aims to help create future Olympians and hosting these meetings is a step towards our goal,” said Cindy van der Merwe, Portfolio Manager at Curro Sport.
“The Podium meetings are a platform where aspiring young sports talent have the chance to compete against each other on a national level and showcase their skills and abilities in front of Olymican role models,” she added.
In a long list of impressive performances during the day the most memorable was produced by Curro Hazeldean's Matodzi Ndou in the 110m hurdles for boys u17. Ndou won the race in an incredible time of 13.21 seconds.
Ndou not only removed Naheem Jack's (Paarl Boys' High) meeting record (13.37) from the books, but his time was also better than Jack's SA Youth record (13.25) set last year during the SA Championships as well as his best this year of 13.72.
Ndou didn't start the day off as well as he finished it, as he was dethroned by his Curro Hazeldean teammate Lesibe Dikgale in the 400m hurdles for boys u17. Dikgale won this item in a new record time of 50.59 seconds. The record belonged to Ndou at 51.01 seconds which he set last year.
Ndou finished in third place during this race in a time of 52.03, while Njabulo Mbatha (Tuks Sports School) took the silver medal in 52 seconds. Dikgale's performance is also the best for this age group so far in 2024.
Another two classy hurdle performances were produced by Prestige College's Tumi Ramokgopa. She won the 100m hurdles (13.38) and 400m hurdles (59.42) to better her own two meeting records. Her time in the long hurdles is the best in the world so far in 2024.
Ramokgopa’s time of 13.38 seconds in the shorter hurdles is also not too far off the world's best of 13.32 recorded by Jamaica's Bryana Davidson earlier this year.
Alexandra Scheepers from Windhoek Gymnasium also showcased her class by setting a new record in the high jump for girls u15. She cleared the crossbar at 1.75m to equal her personal best.
Scheepers’ winning height was also better than the heights achieved by the u19 and u17 champions at the meeting. Mia Janse van Rensburg (Garsfontein) won the u19 item with a jump of 1.70m, while Anjé Bezuidenhout won gold in the u17 age group by clearing 1.73m.
Last year Scheepers won Namibia's first ever gold medal at an international meeting as a 14-year-old. She bagged this medal at the World School Sports Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She also set a new meeting record in the long jump with an attempt of 5.87 meters.
Afrikaans Hoër Meisieskool's Timeke Coetzee (u19) was also in a class of her own as she set new records in the long jump (6.16m) and triple jump (12.73m).
The only girls' sprint record that survived was the 400m girls u17 record of 54.30 that was set by Colene Scheepers Die Hoërskool Menlopark in 2023. Scheepers won the u19 race in a new record time of 55.12 during Saturday's meeting.
Chané Vermeulen (Hoërskool Randburg, u19), Rumé Burger (C&N Sekondêre Meisieskool Oranje, u17), and Oluchi Ndubueze (Northcliff High School, u15) made the respective 100m and 200m records in their age group their own.
Vermeulen won her two races in 11.79 and 23.60 seconds respectively. A total of five athletes dipped under the previous record in the 100m with her Hoërskool Randburg teammate Kaili Botje (11.81) pushing her to the line.
Burger the daughter of former Blitzbok and Cheetahs rugby player, Phillip Burger, won her two races in 11.95 and 23.86 seconds to set new records.
Ndubueze, who participated as part of Curro’s Invitation teams, blitzed the 100m and 200m in 12.05 and 24.90 seconds for her two gold medals.
The complete list of individual winners is included below:
Individual trophy winners:
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Athlete
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Category
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School
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Dewald Bezuidenhout
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Best Jnr Boy Field Athlete
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Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool - Affies
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Alexandra Scheepers
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Best Jnr Girl Field Athlete
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Windhoek Gymnasium
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Kgoputso Manaleng
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Best Jnr Boy Track Athlete
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Jeppe High School for Boys
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Janelle Kirkpatrick
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Best Jnr Girl Track Athlete
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Die Hoërskool Menlopark
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Wesley Badenhorst
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Best Snr Boy Field Athlete
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Hoërskool Waterkloof
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Ashley Erasmus & Alicia Khunou
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Best Snr Girl Field Athlete
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Hoërskool Nelspruit & Die Hoërskool Menlopark
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Matodzi Ndou & Lesibe Dikgale
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Best Snr Boy Track Athlete
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Curro Hazeldean
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Rumé Burger
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Best Snr Girl Track Athlete
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C&N Sekondêre Meisieskool Oranje
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Article Courtesy of www.nadiarossouwpr.co.za
About Curro
Curro Holdings is a JSE-listed South African independent school provider that offers quality education to learners from the early childhood development phase to Grade 12. Curro strives to contribute towards the sustainable growth of South Africa and beyond, by widening access to quality schooling across a spectrum of education approaches. These include Curro, Curro Academy, Meridian, Select schools, DigiEd, National Certificate Vocational education facilities, assisted learning facilities, as well as a digital learning approach. Curro Holdings provides an ethical, values-based environment, and offers a learner-centric, balanced, innovative and relevant curriculum across the various schools.
For more info, visit www.curro.co.za | Facebook: @Curro| Instagram: @Curro.Holdings
