ARMY TEAM DOMINATES LONG-DISTANCE RACES

MATSAPHA – It will take something special for the USDF Athletics Club to be placed second best in the long-distance track events.

On Saturday their dominance was visible to all and sundry at the AAS Track and Field events at Matsapha Police College, as the likes of Melusi Sihlongonyane, Nkosinathi ‘Mangweni’ Zwane and Veli Dlamini, to mention a few, were a marvel to watch.

In the 10 000m and 5 000m runs for men, USDF athletes occupied first to third top spots to prove just how superior they were from the rest in these disciplines. Zwane and Dlamini could not be matched in the 5 000m, springing forward from the onset to duel for the entire 12 rounds.

They provided a thrill for the spectators, pushing each other to the limit at high pace, and the battle reached its climax when Zwane dug deep into his energy reserves to produce a great finish-up, sprinting past Dlamini in the last 100m to win the race at 15:08.7 and upset his favoured teammate.

It was another great win for Zwane who, early in the year, won a cross-country race ahead of Sihlongonyane and Dlamini.
Sihlongonyane, on the other hand, was in a league of his own in the 10 000m, racing to the finish line with no close threat.

Meanwhile, Zwane said they wanted to raise the bar in this discipline so as to get opportunities to represent the country internationally.
“It was not much about competition but time improvement. We want to up the standard in long-distance track discipline and we aim to do well for the country given the chance to race outside Swaziland. However, I am not happy about my performance today and will have to put in extra-hard work, but the (dusty) track was also not of good standard.”

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