Athletics South Africa Press Release

The Absa Series kicked off the South African track and field season on 22 January in Rustenburg. Heading the list of impressive performances was Kwa-Zulu Natal sprinter Matthew Quinn, who ran his first 200m race of the season in a time of 20.55 secs. Hendrick Mokganyetsi returned to his best event, the 400m. His 45.84 sec was just outside the qualifying mark of 45.80, and if Mokganyetsi can maintain and improve on his current form, then he could go far. South African and African record holder in the 110m hurdles, Shaun Bownes soared to a 13.56 sec victory, only a mere 1/100 sec (wind assisted) outside the ASA qualifying time and only 3/100 sec outside his own record. At the second leg of the Absa Series in Pretoria, local hero Burger Lamprechts gave notice of his intentions for the year. His best series ever in the Shot Put saw him go over 20m on every attempt. Lamprechts achieved his personal best, and a mere 5cm off the SA record. His PB of 20.55m also beat the ASA qualifying standard of 19.70m the Olympic games. Amongst some of the best junior performances was that of high jumper Jacques Freitag. In Pretoria he cleared all heights on his first attempt until he reached 2.25m. Although Freitag never cleared 2.25m in Pretoria, he is looking to clear 2.30m this year, which would rank him as one of the all time greats in the world junior ranks. Still in Pretoria, Marcus le Grange moved from the short sprints to the 400m and achieved an IAAF qualified standard for Sydney in that event, posting a time of 45,60 secs. In the process he defeated some of the big names in that discipline, amongst them, SA record holder Arnaud Malherbe. Surita Febbraio caused waves when she broke her PB by nearly a second in the 400m hurdles. She produced some sterling performances and two PB’s in the 100m and 200m sprints in Rustenburg. Febbraio crossed the line in 55.38 secs in the 400m hurdles, the Olympic Qualifying standard being 56.14 sec. Finally in Bloemfontein, it was the sprinters who once again caused headlines, with Matthew Quinn performing at his best. But it was the women on the evening who stole the show. Heide Seyerling who is one athlete for the future in the 400m, avenged an early defeat by Wendy Hartman in the 100m when she crossed the line in 22.87 sec in the 200m. Seyerling was obviously delighted considering that she, like Quinn, had not done any speed work yet. Burger Lamprechts who posted his second best in the shot put once again dominated the field events in Bloemfontein. His winning distance 20.49m earned him the Athlete of the Meet award for the second consecutive time. Apart from the elite performances by SA stars, one of the focuses of the Absa Series, is to identify talent, and one such athlete who has come through the ranks of the ASA talent identification programme, is Dikeledi Moropane (100m and 200m) who hails from Pretoria. “This athlete is a very special athlete because never before has South Africa had Black women sprinters. Dikeledi has come through ASA’s talent identification programme to prove that South Africa can produce young stars, and this girl is truly on her way to greater heights”, said Banele Sindani, Athletics South Africa’s (ASA) Chief Executive Officer. Two other up and coming performers were 400m hurdler, Alwyn Myburgh from Pretoria and 800m athlete Mbuireni Mulaudzi from the Northern Province. Both athletes were gold medallists in the 1999 African Junior Championships and are both currently ranked in the top 10 in the world in their age categories. With the Absa Challenge at its halfway mark, Surita Febbrario and Llewellyn Herbert are currently at the top of the tables with 1123 and 1107 points respectively. The winners are determined by the Absa Scoring Tables, and they will be announced after the Absa Scoring Tables, and they will be announced after the Absa Senior Track and Field SA Championships later next next month. 13 Absa Series records have been broken since the start of the Series. The second half of the Absa Series starts at Potchefstroom on Monday night, with the final two legs moving to sea-level in Stellenbosch and Port Elizabeth. “The results of the Absa Series so far are very encouraging. Being an Olympic year, we are confident that the remaining threee Absa Series meetings will produce some memorable performances and add value to our audiences, both at the events and on television”, said Kenneth Clarke, General Manager: Sponsorships and Events, Absa. Ends. Linda Ferns Events Manager Athletics South Africa Tel: (011) 880-5804 Fax: (011) 442-3091 E-Mail : lindaf@athleticssa.co.za