19 Mar 2019

Botswana Athletics Association (BAA) on March 17 held its first athletics competitions for the northern region at the Francistown Sports Complex.

The association’s vice president for administration, Kenneth Kikwe said the weekend field events and races were a gesture by BAA to give athletes north of Dibete an opportunity to compete.

He said unlike their peers in the south who have so far competed in three events since the beginning of the year, athletes in the north have had a long break and were competing for the first time over the weekend.

“We want to use these races to give the athletes an opportunity to qualify for a series of upcoming events such as the Junior Championships, All Africa Games as well as the World Championships,” he said, adding that if the weekend races were anything to go by, there was still a lot of work to do to get the athletes in shape.

Kikwe took solace in the fact that some athletes among them MacDonald Lekgowe of Swaneng Senior School showed potential and only missed by a second to qualify for the Confederation of African Athletics (CAA) Under 18 and Under 20 Junior Athletics   Championships billed for Abidjan, Ivory Coast.

He said that all was not lost as the majority of athletes had just started taking part in races, and that it would give coaches ample time to work towards improving the times of competitors.

“We also have a number of upcoming events that these athletes will use to qualify for the national championships slated for May and other international events,” he said.

BAA’s additional member, Moses Raphuti, who doubles as the coordinator for the north region, was happy with the weekend turnout, particularly that some of the clubs from the south had come on board.

Participation of athletes of great repute among them Oratile Nowe of Serowe Athletics Club in the women 1 500 metres, Karabo Mothibi of Jwaneng Athletics Club, Sylvester Koko from Sports View as well as Shepard Kenatshele in the 800 metres added the much-needed impetus to the weekend competition.

In the 200 metres senior men final, Karabo Mothibi got pole position followed by Omphemetse Poo and Amon Kusekwa respectively.

Nowe of Serowe Athletics Club was the first to reach the finish line in the women 1 500 metres.

Following right on her heels were Bontle Ngiya, who participated as an individual, while Bokang Maphuru of Francistown Athletics Club failed to finish the race.

The highlight of the weekend competition was the senior men’s 800 final which pitted Koko against Kenatshele.

The race was won by Koko who clocked 1:51:46 to Kenatshele’s 1:52:25. ENDS