Eight new national records were set at the Namibia Schools Sports Union (NSSU) National Athletics Championships which took place at the Independence Stadium on Friday and Saturday.

In the 90-meter (m) hurdles, Lauren Van Niekerk of the Khomas Region clocked 14.25 seconds for the Under-14 (U-14) girls, while Alisha van der Walt of Erongo set a new record in the girls U-13 high jump when she jumped 1.70m.

She had faced stiff competition from Alexandra Scheepers, who initially set a new record at 1.66m.

Another high jump record was set in the boys’ U-15 when Benjamin Hendrikse leapt 1.85m.

The U-15 girls also saw a new record of 1.70m by Adara Gey van Pittius, with Tuane Silver setting a new shot put record for the U-19 girls when she threw 15m.

In the men’s 200m dash, Ruano de Carvalho set a new record of 22.64 seconds.

In the boys’ discus throw, Kunene’s Andre Brand set a new national record of 50.02m.

NSSU National Coordinator, Solly Duiker, said the just ended championships were by far the best-attended school’s sports event in the 29 years of its existence.

“Everything went well. So many spectators came to witness the boys’ and girls’ performances. All the winners received medals (gold, silver and bronze). The organisation and logistics were on point,” he said.

A total of 1 200 children from all the 15 regions took part in the event.

Khomas region were the biggest winners with 39 gold, 35 silver and 31 bronze medals followed by Hardap who took 15 gold, 12 silver and 11 bronze medals.

Ohangwena was third with 11 gold, five silver and five bronze medals.

The event was used to select a team for the Confederation of School Sport Associations of Southern Africa (COSSASA) and International Schools Sports Federation (ISSF) games in France from 14 to 24 May.

The names of the team will be released in due course.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency