Online Reporter
Ellina Mhlanga-Zimpapers Sports Hub
THE NASH national track and field championships roared into life yesterday with participating provinces showing intent as they compete for honours at Prince Edward School in Harare.
The National Association of Secondary Heads meet featuring Under-16s, Under-18s, and Under-20s from the country’s 10 provinces ends today.
Defending champions Mashonaland West had a good start, picking several gold medals in some of the events by yesterday afternoon.
Some of their outstanding athletes were Panashe Hondoma, who picked gold in Under-20 Boys’ 10 000m while Trey Chimunya delivered a solid performance to weigh in with another gold in the 100m race where he clocked 10.20 seconds and defended the title he won last year in Bindura.
“Today was just a normal day, because I knew that I trained for it so it was nothing to me.
“I can’t say I was trying to defend my title, but yeah, that was the thing. But today was just a normal day to me,” said Chimunya.
Mashonaland West province’s head coach Gravity Phiri made it clear they are out to retain the title.
“So far, we are doing great. The athletes are performing very well, just as we expected.
“We came here prepared. We are expecting by end of day one to have scoped around 10 to 11 medals . . . Then tomorrow (today), we are expecting around seven or eight, and we retain our title,” Phiri said.
However, he admitted provinces such as Mashonaland Central were giving them a good challenge. Mashonaland Central claimed several top spots in a number of events, including in the Girls Under-20 100m, with Shalom Sendi crossing the finish line in 12.03 seconds.
It is an improvement from last year when she came second.
