New Schools Sprint King to Be Crowned at Curro Podium National Athletics Final

The cream of South African schools’ athletics crop will once again gather at the Pilditch Stadium in Pretoria for the annual Curro Podium national finals this Saturday (8 February 2025). The national title as best athletics school in South Africa is on offer with the defending champions, Die Hoërskool Menlopark, and Curro Hazeldean the early favourites once again. Menlopark has walked away with this title in both previous editions in 2023 and 2024.

Catch all the action live on SuperSport Schools via DStv Channel 216 or by live streaming on the app. In total 64 school teams will be vying for the title of national champions. All eyes will especially be on the sprinting events during the meeting. Last year Bayanda Walaza (Curro Hazeldean) announced himself on the scene with a gold medal in the 100m with a blistering 10.44 seconds at the Curro Podium national finals.

He went on to bag a silver medal as part of the South African 4x100m team during the Olympic Games in Paris. He also later won gold at the World Junior Championships in Lima, Peru in both the 100m (10.19) and 200m (20.52) sprints.

Curro Hazeldean’s speedster Mukona Manavhela (u17) will hope to produce the magic in the 100m and 200m for his team. His best time so far this season in the 100m is a quick-fire 10.71 seconds, while clocking an even more impressive time of 21.36 seconds in the 200m. Manavhela could also expect some friendly competition from his teammate Josaphat Motloung who will be in action in the 200m and 400m sprints. Motloung will have a proper battle with Helpmekaar’s Stiaan Myburgh in the longer sprint. Another Helpies sprinter Leendert Koekemoer (u19) has been in top-form so form this year. His best time of 45.96 seconds in the 400m this year is also the best by any junior athlete in the world in 2025.

Another battle to look forward to is that of Taelyn Smith (Menlopark) and Willie van Wyk (Garsfontein) in the high jump for Boys u17. Both jumpers cleared 2.05m in 2024 to set new personal bests. Smith has recently cleared 2.11 metres to set the bar in the event. This is the best performance thus far in the world in this age group for 2025. Van Wyk’s best attempt so far in 2025 was when he jumped 2.01 metres during his school’s annual Abrie van Staden meeting. Van Wyk won the bronze medal at last year’s South African Schools Championship clearing the bar at 1.88m in this age group. Smith won gold during last year’s Curro Podium national final for Boys u17 with a jump of 2.00m.

In the javelin for Boys u19 Jan-Hendrik Heymans of Helpmekaar Kollege is set to break the meeting record of 65.08m set by Johandré Pienaar of Affies during the inaugural event back in 2023. Heymans recently launched the javelin 69.53 metres.

Menlopark’s Megan Nieman (u17) will be hard to beat in the 100m-hurdles. She bettered a national age group record in the 90m-hurdles during the SA Junior, Youth and Sub-Youth Championship last year with a time of 12.89 seconds. The record stood for 21 years.

In the 400m-hurdles she will have some stiff opposition from her teammate Liné de Villiers who was the national u16 champion (300mH) last year with a winning time of 42.41 seconds.

In the Curro Invitational team selected from top performing schools’ athletes from various Curro schools will be showcasing their talents. Some of the athletes within this team to look out for is Michane Jordaan (Girls u17, 100m & 200m), Matimba Baloyi (Boys u15, 300m-hurdles & 400m), Michael Spocter (Girls u17, High Jump), Lethabo Maloma (Boys u19, 100m & 200m) and Keriana Govender (Girls u15, 90m-hurdles & 300m-hurdles). – (Hannes Nienaber)

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