White River, Mpumalanga: Rob Ferreira High School showcased their incredible talent on Friday, winning both the girls and boys divisions at the Mpumalanga leg of the Track+Field series, which was held in White River.
In the girls competition, Rob Ferreira (the host school) finished top of the standings with 212 points, holding off a strong challenge from the Penryn College team, who finished second with 197 points. St Marks School ended third with 121 points.
Among the boys, Rob Ferreira earned 237 points, and they too had to work hard to finish ahead of Penryn College (225), with St Marks (138) again finishing third.
"It's such a pleasure to have this event here for our athletes in the Ehlanzeni region," said Stefan van de Merwe, the event organiser representing Rob Ferreira High School.
"It advances our athletics and creates a great opportunity for the athletes, and we're so pleased to have everyone here."
In individual events, the girls shot putters dominated the meeting, delivering superb performances in all three age groups.
Mia du Preez (Mbombela) won the U15 shot put with a 13.27m throw, producing the performance of the day by raking in 893 points in the World Athletics scoring table in her discipline.
Zane Nel also did well to win the girls U17 shot put with a 13.61m heave, while Chloe Mabitla (Rob Ferreira) launched a best effort of 10.62m to triumph in the U19 contest.
The best performance among the boys was produced by Princely Mhangana (Whitehazy) who won the U17 1500m race in 4:13.67.
Though he wasn't among the top achievers in the points scoring tables, Thabo Silabela (Mbombela), who won the U17 boys javelin throw competition, turned heads with his individual performance.
Silabela achieved a 45.95m throw after preparing for the event by watching YouTube videos and throwing a stick to practice his technique.
Despite not having a coach, Silabela took full advantage of the opportunity to compete in the Track+Field series, standing out as a naturally gifted athlete who could have a bright future in the sport.
Matthew Quinn: Co-Founder & Director of Track+Field series
"We continue to unearth incredible talent, as we've seen throughout the series," said T+F co-founder and former Olympic sprinter Mathew Quinn.
"We continue to find the best schools in each province, but we are equally pleased to be giving opportunities to all kids in South Africa to compete and show their talent."
Louis Bates, chairperson of Mpumalanga Schools Athletics, was delighted to see schools in the province being given a chance to compete in a nationwide series.
"I've spoken to some of the athletes, and this feels like a national (championship) event to them," Bates said.
"Some of these athletes have not yet reached the provincial stage of competition, so we're very privileged and thankful to have them here today because this is the only exposure at this level that some of these athletes will get."
Rob Ferreira became the latest school to qualify for the National Final of the Track+Field series, a joint venture between SuperSport, SA Schools Athletics and Athletics South Africa.
Other schools which have qualified through nationwide provincial events are Hoërskool Diamantveld (Northern Cape), TuksSport High School (Gauteng) and Bethlehem Voortrekker Hoërskool (Free State),all in the girls and boys divisions as well as Cambridge High School (girls) and Queen's College (boys) who will represent the Eastern Cape in the national final showdown later this year.
The KwaZulu-Natal leg of the campaign, which is open to all schools in the province, will be held in Pietermaritzburg on Wednesday, 5 March.
