On your marks, get set, go!

Precious NghitaunapoEpako High School held its inter-house athletics on Thursday, 17 February at the Legare Stadium in Gobabis. The event was filled with high spirits as the students looked forward to participating and showcasing their athletic talents. The fun-filled event covered javelin, discus, shotput, long jump and the 800-metre to 100-metre races. Parents, teachers and community members showed up in numbers in full support of their children and students participating in the joyous event. The school awarded several students for their excellence in the different items. Hermanus Christof took first place in the boys’ under-19 high jump, while Hewicke Louis won first place in the boys’ under-19 shotput. Kasupi Stella and Sito Mechel excelled in the girls’ under-15 200-metre race, while Murangi Mbeurora won the boys’ under-17 200-metre race. Thomas Ndipanda, a teacher at Epako High School explains that despite the school still being locked down a week prior to the athletics, the learners of the school still pulled through, showed up and did their best, although many were quickly exhausted and injured due to the lack of consistent training. "I am happy about the outcome from both the parents and learners. There is definitely more interest in athletics compared to last year," says Kamaa Tjaronda, the sport co-ordinator for Epako High School. The athletics served as a welcome back for the learners to start their academic semester after two weeks of quarantine since the start of the academic year.