Just Luke at him go…

It’s crunch time for athletes taking part in the Western Province High Schools’ athletics season.

The Northern Zone team dominated the Western Province High Schools’ and Junior Championships, at Vygieskraal Stadium, last weekend and they will hope to shine again at this weekend’s Western Cape Championships, to be held in Paarl.

Among the top performers is Parow High School’s Luke Davids, 15, who won the gold medal in the boys’ under-18 100m sprints, in a time of 11.15 seconds at the WP champs.

Luke, a Grade 9 pupil, also finished the boys’ under-18 200m sprints in second place behind champion Jayson Weber from Brackenfell High School who stopped the clock at 21.94 seconds.

Both Luke and Jayson, who won their respective heats and semi-finals, left spectators with a mouth-watering final to watch, where both athletes gave it their all from start to finish.

The two will renew their competition at the Athletics South Africa (ASA) junior championships, at the Green Point track, next month. This was after they both made the qualifying standard of 22.23 seconds in the 200m sprints at WP champs. The other event Luke qualified for was the 100m sprints where he made the qualifying standard of 10.95 seconds in his heats and semi-finals.

Meanwhile, Jayson also qualified for the boys’ under-18 400m sprint event where he ran 48.73 seconds in the 400m finals at the WP champs.

However, before the ASA junior championships, Luke first has to take care of business, at the Western Cape High Schools’ Championships at Dal Josafat Stadium, in Paarl, this weekend.

The youngster said he won’t be taking his rivals for granted as he knows Boland have dominated the track and field competition over the years.

“I am going to take it one race at a time. Of course the plan would be to win the double at the WC champs but I would need to step up a gear. Jayson and I have had great competition against each other since inter-schools and hopefully it continues as the season goes on, which is good for the sport,” he said.

The lanky athlete started the athletics season with a bang when he did the double in the boys’ under-18 100m and 200m at the Co-Ed A athletics meet, last month.

Luke went on to win the 100m sprints and came second in the 200m sprints at the Northern zone champs behind Jayson, at the Bellville Velodrome, last month.

Last year, he did not compete in school athletics after injuring his hip muscles two weeks before inter-schools, and only competed in his first competition in December.

“The fact that everyone was doubting me and telling me my athletics career was over motivated me to prove them wrong. It made me a strong person and now it is paying off,” he said.

It comes as no surprise why Luke is doing well as his uncle Samuel Jansen was a South African schools’ champion in the 100m and 200m sprints events.

“He was and still is an excellent sportsman. He always gives me great advice and hopefully I can reach my dreams of becoming a SA schools’ and clubs champion,” said Luke.

He is a fan of Jamaican and eight-time Olympic champion Usain Bolt who holds the record in 100m and 200m sprint events.

“I want to be better than Usain and break records at a young age. It won’t be easy but anything is possible,” he said.