Tuks's athletes had to conquer seriously windy conditions in Stellenbosch to win the USSA Championships.
In three days of running, jumping and throwing, Tuks scored 330 points. Northwest University was second with 285 points, the University of Johannesburg third with 256 points and TUT fourth with 198.
It was Tuks' women who stepped up. Fifteen of the 21 individual medals Tuks had won came from the heroics of the female athletes.
The medical student, Charné Swart, is undoubtedly one of the heroes. For the third consecutive year, she won the 800m and 1500m.
On Friday, two hours after Swart had won the 1500m in 4:25.37, she lined up to contest the 800m heats. She 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 in a time of 4:29.79, while Oosthuizen was second in the 800m, running 2:09.85.
WINDY CONDITIONS
According to Swart, the wind was definitely 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 5000m 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' 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 MEDALLED ATHLETES:
Gold: Eckhart Potgieter (100 metres), Collins Kgadima (21km), Edmund du Plessis (800 metres), Ruan Bronkhorst (decathlon), Rolien Louw (heptathlon);
Silver: Marlie Viljoen (400 metres), Duncan Robertson (javelin), Hanna van Niekerk (400m-hurdles), Potgieter (200 metres);
Bronze: James Seeliger, Mickyla Botha (heptathlon).
Tuks won five medals in the relays (1 gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze).