Athletes to pull out all stops at national champs

Exciting athletics is expected at the Independence Stadium where the 2015 edition of the Bank Windhoek Senior National Championships is set to take place tomorrow. All top ten athletes in each event in Namibia for the year are invited to the event. In addition each region will enter two athletes per event to guarantee a great line-up In the short sprints, fireworks are expected when Evan Tjiviju defends his double titles in the men’s 100m and 200m. He will be up against Tjimbatu Kauajo and Ismael Tjiramba, who is boasting the season’s best time in Namibia this year in the 100m after recording 10.76 seconds. Ernst Narib will aim to get back to winning ways in the 400m and take revenge on the young Francis Uatema of Erongo, who humiliated him at the Swakopmund Bank Windhoek Grand Prix two weeks ago. In the women’s sprints, Lena !Noreses is expected to continue her dominance in the absence of Namibia’s other senior sprinters who are currently in Jamaica. But she can expect to be tested by the upcoming junior athletes such as Eileen Britz and Carolin Kutzner. In the middle distances, Daniel Nghipandulwa and Johannes Skrywer are expected to provide another excellent episode of their rivalry in the 800m and 1500m. Klaudia Moses - the defending women 800m - is expected go up against her old nemesis, the hard running Lavinia Haitope. In the long distances, the men and women in uniforms, NamPol and NDF athletes, are expected to go head to head in the 10 000m. NDF’s trio David Thomas, Simon Shipingana and Pinehas Embashu will face stiff competition from NamPol’s Mynhardt Kauanivi and Uveni-Nawa Kuugongelwa of the Khomas Region in the 5 000m. In the women’s 10 000m, Beata Naigambo of NamPol is expected to dominate but Eunike Kanana of Oshakati and Alina Armas and Anna Amutoko of NDF are sure to test her. In the field events the Khomas Region is expected to dominate the shot put and discus through Charlene Engelbrecht, Selma Shilongo, Jessica Moolman and Sune Engelbrecht. However, in the men’s high jump, Erongo region is expected to dominate through upcoming junior high jumpers Sakaria Kakunde and Vizamuje Ujaha. They will test Salomon Tuaire, who has been Namibia’s best high jumper for over a decade. WINDHOEK-SPORT REPORTER