University of Pretoria track and field athletes had to conquer seriously windy conditions in Stellenbosch to win the overall title at the 2024 USSA Athletics Championships in Stellenbosch.

In three days of running, jumping and throwing, Tuks scored 330 points. North-West University was second with 285 points, the University of Johannesburg third with 256 points and TUT fourth with 198.

It was the Tuks women's team who stepped up. 15 of the 21 individual medals Tuks had won came from the heroics of the female athletes. 

The medical student at UP-Tuks, Charné Swart, is undoubtedly one of the heroes. For the third consecutive year, she won 800 and 1500 metres. One of the significant challenges of the USSA Championships is that athletes are required to put their bodies on the line to get those oh-so-valuable points.

On Friday, two hours after Swart had won the 1500 metres in 4:25.37, she lined up to contest the 800 metre heats. She was impressed with the confidence with which she ran. Swart was tactically astute, biding her time to perfection. When she accelerated, nobody could keep up. 

Kudos should also go to Swart's teammates. In the 1500 metres, Carmie Prinsloo ran shoulder to shoulder with Swart over the last few hundred metres, while in the 800 metres, Michaela Oosthuizen set the pace over the first five hundred metres. Prinsloo finished second in the 1500 metres with a time of 4:29.79, while Oosthuizen was second in the 800 metres running 2:09.85. 

According to Swart, the wind was a factor.

"My coach, Ilze Wicksell, and I decided that it would be unwise to waste energy early on during the races facing the wind full on. So, I opted to run more tactically. To win was more important than trying to go for fast times."

Prinsloo delivered a gutsy performance, winning the 5000 metres in 16:57.72. The World Students cross country champion, Karabo Mailula (Tuks), was second in 17:08.57.

"Because the wind made for challenging racing, I opted not to start too fast. When Karabo took the lead, I decided to stick with her. Honestly, I was in doubt about my abilities as my season did not start as I wanted. Only with 1000 metres to go, I realised that I could win if I was tactically astute. I kicked with 400 metres to go. To win is a great confidence booster."

Tuks's Kayla van den Bergh seems to have a new hobby. It is to collect medals in the 100m-hurdles. She won the USSA title with a time of 14.61s in the final. Chané Kok (Tuks) was second in 14.84s. The athletes had to deal with a headwind blowing five metres per second. 

"I was hoping to run a fast time as in the buildup to USSA's, my training had been going well. It was meant to be. The conditions were the worst I had ever raced in on Friday. In a way, it was good, as I know now what it will take to race in such stormy conditions. I had to keep my wits about me to ensure I kept my rhythm," said Van den Bergh, who is also the South African under-23 champion.

Colette Uys, also a medical student, has won the most individual medals for Tuks. On Friday morning, she won the shotput (15.28 metres); six hours later, she won the hammer throw (58.23 metres). She was second yesterday in the discus event, throwing 48.36 metres.

Dané Coetzer (Tuks) was third in the hammer throw with a distance of 50.56 metres. 

The other Tuks athletes who medalled:

Gold medalists: Eckhart Potgieter (100m), Collins Kgadima (21km), Edmund du Plessis (800m), Ruan Bronkhorst (Decathlon), Rolien Louw (heptathlon). Silver medalists: Marlie Viljoen (400m), Duncan Robertson (Javelin), Hanna van Niekerk (400m-hurdles), Potgieter (200m). Bronze medalists: James Seeliger and Mickyla Botha (heptathlon)

Tuks won five medals in the relays (1 gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze)