adminRicky Zililo Sports Reporter
BULAWAYO athletes will clash at Luveve High School on Sunday for the final national cross-country championships. The national finals will be held on February 15 in Kwekwe.Fourteen clubs are registered with the Bulawayo Athletics Board and they are all expected to send representatives for the weekend competition.
Sparrows, ZRP Unit Fairbridge, Northlea High School, City Striders, Sikhulile High School, Sports Tec who are based at Milton High School, Juma Phiri Academy, Luveve High School, Mbonqane Athletics Club, Ihlosi, Nyasha Charandura Academy, Mpopoma High School, Hillside Junior and ZPS are all expected to send athletes.
At last weekend’s season opener held at Nketa Park in Mpopoma, six athletes – Sparrows’ 15-year-old Patience Gurure, Cynthia Taderera of Mpopoma High School, Edin Ncube of J Phiri Academy, Nkosilathi Bafana of Sparrows, Blessed Ruguchu of Ihlosi and Vincent Dube also from Sparrows – had B-standard qualification times after crossing the finishing line under 29 minutes 50 seconds.
Bafana came first in his category in 27 minutes 01.75 seconds followed by Ruguchu who ran 27 minutes 20.70 seconds with Dube coming third in 27 minutes 52.10 seconds.
The A-standard qualification time for the boys’ Under-20 is 24 minutes 40 seconds with their girls’ counterparts who compete in 6km being 24 minutes 50 seconds for A- and 31 minutes for a B-standard.
Gurure, Taderera and Ncube were within the A-standard Under-18 girls qualification time of 27 minutes as they clocked 23 minutes 07.90 seconds, 23 minutes 50.40 seconds and 24 minutes 39.30 seconds respectively.
Bab chairman Manuel Mpofu said if athletes fail to qualify through set times, they are going to use their positions to get into the provincial team for the national finals.
“Everything is set for the final qualifiers which will be held at Luveve High School. All clubs are aware of the qualifying times and it was agreed at a technical meeting we had at the beginning of the year that should athletes fail to attain the times set, then we will get those who came tops with good times,” said Mpofu.
The Under-16 boys and girls will compete in the 6km event whose A-standard qualifying times are 18 minutes 50 seconds and 21 minutes respectively. The B-standard for this age group is 24 minutes for girls and 21 minutes for boys.
Mpopoma High School’s Alicate Matiza who clocked 22 minutes 31.53 seconds in last Sunday’s Under-16 race is a favourite to make it into Team Bulawayo alongside schoolmate Sikhathele Nkomazana who ran 31 minutes 10.93 seconds in the girls’ category.
Senior women compete over 8km whose qualifying times are 31 minutes A-standard and 35 minutes B-standard while their male counterparts who run 12km have 35 minutes as their A-standard and 37 minutes for B-standard.
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