Tuks athletes win most gold medals at USSA Championship

Tuks' athletes won 13 gold medals, the most by any team, during the USSA Championships at Pilditch, but it was not good enough to win overall.

The University of Johannesburg is the overall champion, having scored 322 points. Tuks was second with 278 points, followed by Northwest University with 276 points.

It is fair to say that Tuks' female athletes were the backbone of the team. Nine of the 10 gold medals claimed by Tuks were due to the heroics of the female athletes. Colette Uys (3 gold) and Karabo Mailula (2 gold) were brilliant.

The medical student Uys won the throwing events, winning the shotput (17.16 metres), hammer throw (65.32 metres), and discus (55.48 metres)). Her perfomance in the hammer throw competition was good enough to set a new national universities record.

Mailula won the half marathon in 1:16:08, which is an amazing achievement considering she did so at altitude. Her previous best over 21 kilometres was 1:17.07. The educational student also won the 10,000 metres in a time of 34:53.89.

Information science student Peace Adedokun completed a medal hat trick, winning the triple jump with a distance of 16.20 metres. He won silver at the South African under-23 championship and gold last week at the national senior champs in Potchefstroom.

"Honestly, it was disappointing not to win the South African under-23 championship. But then again, if I had won, I might have lost out at the last two national championships. My coach, Neil Cornelius, joked, saying if losing is what wakes me up, he would let it happen more often."

Chane Kok is another Tuks athlete who proved she can recover stronger from a setback. On Saturday, she won the 100 m hurdles, setting a personal best time of 13.64s. She ran exactly the same time in the heats and final. The BCom Business Management student falsely started at the South African under-23 championship.

Kok joked afterwards, saying that after the USSA championships, she is confident that she could run the 100 metres blindfolded and still know precisely when to stop.

"Over three days, I raced five times over 100 metres - twice in the 100-metre sprint and twice in the 100m-hurdles. I also ran the 4x100m-relay."

Kok is hoping to race to race in the next two weeks again. If she does, she is confident she will improve her best time again. And even qualifying for the World Student Games in July.

"I have been consistent in the times I have been running this season. That is a good sign because if you are consistent, that 'wow' race is close to happening. The one thing I need to improve on is my start. My hurdling technique also needs to improve."

Hannah van Niekerk finished second in the 400m hurdles, setting a personal best time of 56.22 seconds. It was the second time in a week that she had done so. She also finished second during the national champs in Potchefstroom, running 56.67 seconds. She will represent South Africa in the women's 4x400m relay this weekend at the World Relay Championship in Guangzhou, China.

Tuks individual events medallists:

Gold: Carmie Prinsloo (1500m - 4:22.58), Chane Kok (100m-hurdles - 13.64s), Colette Uys (shotput - 17.16m, hammer throw - 65.32m, discus - 55.48m), Micyla Botha (javelin - 45.45m), Karabo Mailula (21km - 1:16:08) and 10 000m - 34:53.89), Annestaysha George (200m - 23.54s), Peace Adedokun (triple jump - 16.20m).

Silver: Maricelle Kruger (3000m steeple chase - 11:11.64), Carolina Louw (100m-hurdles - 13.68s), Chandi Mulder (javelin - 44.72m), Williams Rivers (10000m race walk - 45:29), Carmie Prinsloo (5000m - 16:52.26), Mia Davel (high jump - 1.70m), Hannah van Niekerk (400m-hurdles - 56.22s), John-Oliver Kleynsmith (shotput - 17.20m).

Bronze: Lana Oberholzer (100m-hurdles - 13.83s), Annestaysha George (100m - 11.68s), Chaliz Welgemoed (javelin - 43.66m), Duncan Robertson (javelin - 71.34m), Andre Erasmus (400m-hurdles - 51.38s), Eckhart Potgieter (200m - 20.68s).