Bethlehem Voortrekker, Rob Ferreira lead the way at Track+Field National Final

After the first day of action at University of Johannesburg Stadium on Thursday, Bethlehem Voortrekker Hoërskool from Free State held the lead in the girls’ division while Hoërskool Rob Ferreira of Mpumalanga lead the boy’s division.

Both schools will still have a lot of work to do on day two with multiple schools putting up a fight in the battle for the overall titles at the Track+Field National Final.

With the top T+F schools around South Africa converging on UJ Stadium, there were excellent performances across the board.

In the girl’s competition, Bethlehem Voortrekker Hoërskool were top of the standings with 295 points, with Hoërskool Stellenbosch lying second (274) and Hoërskool Rob Ferreira (247) in third.

In a tightly contested boys division, Hoërskool Rob Ferreira led the standings with 293 points, 30 points ahead of second-placed Tuks Sports High School of Gauteng (263) and Bethlehem Voortrekker Hoërskool in third place (247).

Among individual athletes, Carise van Rooyen was one of the standout performers, securing a gun-to-tape victory in the U19 girls 800m race.

Van Rooyen, representing Bethlehem Voortrekker, went out hard from the start and held on to win in 2:07.93, finishing more than seven seconds clear of her nearest opponent.

"This is an amazing meeting. It helps young athletes improve a lot by challenging themselves against good athletes, which can boost their confidence," Van Rooyen said afterwards.

"I had a lot of fun with my friends on the bus coming down here after SuperSport picked us up this morning, and the atmosphere here has been very good."

In the U19 boys 800m race, Stellenbosch athlete Lee-Hanro Arendse also delivered an impressive performance, though he didn't have things all his own way.

Arendse controlled the pace for most of the race but was pushed all the way to the line, ultimately securing victory in 1:55.18.

Sisanda Ntuli (Tuks Sport) took the runner-up spot in 1:55.98, with the top four finishers all dipping under 1:58.00.

"I'm just excited to be here. It's a good opportunity and it was awesome today," Arendse said.

"Track and field have always been my dream and you've got to chase your goals, and I just do my best in every race."

The overall champions at the T+F National Final - a joint venture between SuperSport, SA Schools Athletics and Athletics South Africa - will be crowned on Friday.

The second day of action at UJ Stadium, which will be held between 1.30pm and 5.30pm, will be broadcast live on SuperSport Variety 4 (channel 209) and the SuperSport Schools app.

DAY 1 - TOP 10 LEADERBOARD

GIRLS