Juniors shine at Frank’s race

NAMIBIA’S junior track and field athletes set the Independence stadium alight Saturday during the annual Frank Fredericks Invitational meeting, attended by a record number of over 2000 spectators.

One such junior was sprinting sensation Frank Puriza, who lived up to expectations when he won the 400m sprint for junior men and ran a beautiful 200m to finish in second place behind world-class sprinter Fredericks. Puriza clocked 21.33 seconds, while Fredericks recorded 20.58 sec.In the 200m men’s open, Puriza, a Jan Mohr learner, showed a clean pair of heels to other top Namibian senior runners like Sylvester Naute who finished in third place and Matuipi Katjihoungua who came in in sixth place overall.Puriza told Nampa it was great to run against Fredericks.He said Fredericks slowed down a bit for him (Puriza) to go faster and improve his time.Puriza already qualified for the World Junior Championship to take place in Italy from July 13 to 18.Another outstanding performance on the day came from Chriswell De Wee from Walvis Bay who beat South African-based Namibian sprinter Benedictus Botha by a 100th of a second in the 100m final.The junior from Welwitchia Athletics Club started slow but with his strength and determination caught up with Botha on the finish line.Botha had a good start out of the blocks and looked set to win but De Wee delivered a breathtaking performance and his stamina pushed him over the line to win the race decided on a photo finish.The photo image showed that de Wee had most of his body over the finish line, which gave him a winning time of 10.59 seconds and Botha 10.60 sec.De wee also outran all the other senior runners in that race and also won the 200m for junior men in style.De Wee and Puriza are some of the athletes who will benefit from scholarships from the Frank Fredericks Foundation (FFF).The total amount of scholarships amount to N$ 12 000 of which N$3 000 will go to the two top juniors each.The scholarships will cover the learners school fees and other school expenses as well as equipment to enhance their sporting talents.South Africa runner Geraldine Pillay also did what she came to Namibia for and that was to win the 100m and 200m races.She left Namibia’s top female sprinter Silba Tjingaete far behind.Tjingaete was, however, pleased to have beaten former top sprinter Charmaine Smit.Namibia’s 800m queen, Agnes Samaria won her race with flying colors followed by junior runner Salti Eshitila from the Omaheke region.Eshitila won the 1 500m event.Fredericks told Nampa afterwards that he was pleased with the turn-out of spectators as well as the athletes performances.Other outstanding performances came from Stefanie Hummel who won the 100m and 200m finals for junior women.Izaan Liebenberg from the Karas region was the best junior girl in the field events when she won the shot put, discus and javelin.The next track and field event will be the Grand Prix over three legs on April 24.- NampaPuriza clocked 21.33 seconds, while Fredericks recorded 20.58 sec.In the 200m men’s open, Puriza, a Jan Mohr learner, showed a clean pair of heels to other top Namibian senior runners like Sylvester Naute who finished in third place and Matuipi Katjihoungua who came in in sixth place overall.Puriza told Nampa it was great to run against Fredericks.He said Fredericks slowed down a bit for him (Puriza) to go faster and improve his time.Puriza already qualified for the World Junior Championship to take place in Italy from July 13 to 18.Another outstanding performance on the day came from Chriswell De Wee from Walvis Bay who beat South African-based Namibian sprinter Benedictus Botha by a 100th of a second in the 100m final.The junior from Welwitchia Athletics Club started slow but with his strength and determination caught up with Botha on the finish line.Botha had a good start out of the blocks and looked set to win but De Wee delivered a breathtaking performance and his stamina pushed him over the line to win the race decided on a photo finish.The photo image showed that de Wee had most of his body over the finish line, which gave him a winning time of 10.59 seconds and Botha 10.60 sec.De wee also outran all the other senior runners in that race and also won the 200m for junior men in style.De Wee and Puriza are some of the athletes who will benefit from scholarships from the Frank Fredericks Foundation (FFF).The total amount of scholarships amount to N$ 12 000 of which N$3 000 will go to the two top juniors each.The scholarships will cover the learners school fees and other school expenses as well as equipment to enhance their sporting talents.South Africa runner Geraldine Pillay also did what she came to Namibia for and that was to win the 100m and 200m races.She left Namibia’s top female sprinter Silba Tjingaete far behind.Tjingaete was, however, pleased to have beaten former top sprinter Charmaine Smit.Namibia’s 800m queen, Agnes Samaria won her race with flying colors followed by junior runner Salti Eshitila from the Omaheke region.Eshitila won the 1 500m event.Fredericks told Nampa afterwards that he was pleased with the turn-out of spectators as well as the athletes performances.Other outstanding performances came from Stefanie Hummel who won the 100m and 200m finals for junior women.Izaan Liebenberg from the Karas region was the best junior girl in the field events when she won the shot put, discus and javelin.The next track and field event will be the Grand Prix over three legs on April 24.- Nampa