Maritzburg College (Pietermaritzburg) and Hoërskool Suid-Natal High School (Port-Shepstone) emerged as the top schools in KwaZulu-Natal,  as the road to the National Final of the track+field high schools athletics series continued to gain momentum in Pietermaritzburg on Wednesday. Competing at the Msunduzi Stadium, in the sixth leg of the nationwide campaign, the Suid Natal squad dominated the girls division.  They raked in 855 points, with St Anne’s Diocesan School (Hilton) (647) and Treverton College (Mooi River) (492) finishing second and third respectively in the team competition.

“Ours is a small school compared to the other schools we compete against, but our children are really passionate, and they put a lot of work into this,” said Suid Natal athletics coach Jaden McIntyre.  “Every week if we want to participate in athletics in Pietermaritzburg, we have to drive for three hours to get here, and sometimes we get back home after midnight.  So, this means a lot to us. The competition today was amazing. It’s given our learners the opportunity to keep improving and I think they really enjoyed it.” In the boys category, Maritzburg College (658 points) had to dig deep to hold off a strong challenge from Hilton College (651), while Treverton College (359) ended third “It feels very good to be the KZN T+F champions,” said Maritzburg College athletics captain Lethokuhle Shangase. “It was a long day and very tiring, but our boys gave their best today, and we’re looking forward to competing in the final in Gauteng.”