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07 February 2018 Photo Facebook
Louzanne and Marné included in national student cross country teams
Athlete Louzanne Coetzee, and her guide, Xavier Adams
Two Kovsie athletes, including the blind athlete and world record holder, Louzanne Coetzee, have been included in the national student cross country team.

Coetzee and Marné Mentz will compete at the World Student Cross Country championship on 7 April in St Gallen in Switzerland.

They qualified for the team after good performances at the Athletics South Africa’s cross country trials held at the University of the Free State (UFS) on 20 January. The distance was over 10km.

What makes Coetzee’s inclusion even more remarkable is the fact that she will be competing against able-bodied runners. The world record holder in the 5 000m in her disability category (T-11) and her new guide, Xavier Adams, finished first among the female students in a time of 39:32, which is her personal best. Mentz ended in second place for students in 39:44. They will make up two of the six spots in the women’s team in Switzerland.

First for Coetzee

 It is the first time that Coetzee was chosen for an able-bodied national team. She is doing a master’s degree in Reconciliation and Social Cohesion this year and Mentz is in her final year of a BEd Intermediate Phase.

Tshepang Sello, another Kovsie and an Olympic athlete from Lesotho, took first position for students in 38:04 but did not qualify for the South African team because of her Lesotho citizenship.

Kesa Molotsane (35:29) was the overall winner. Although Molotsane is still doing her honours this year, she ran in the open division as she no longer qualifies as a student because she is over the age of 25, according to University Sport South Africa regulations.

Molotsane ,26, is the national cross country champion of 2016 and obtained second spot last year.

News Archive

UFS makes history as a second researcher – Prof Melanie Walker – receives NRF A-rating
2014-12-03

Prof Melanie Walker
Photo: Sonia Small

Prof Melanie Walker, Senior Research Professor at the University of the Free State’s (UFS) Centre for Research on Higher Education and Development (CRHED) has received an A1 rating from the National Research Foundation (NRF). This rating acknowledges Prof Walker as a leading international researcher – her work unequivocally recognised by peers world-wide for its high quality and wide impact.

This is the first time in our institution’s history that two A-ratings are awarded simultaneously. Prof Maxim Finkelstein from the Department of Mathematical Statistics also recently received an A2-rating in Probability and Statistics from the NRF.

“Achieving this outstanding rating,” Prof Walker says, “is not just an individual achievement. I have had tremendous personal support and rich intellectual collaborations from wonderful colleagues on the way. The award also recognises the Rector’s project to build a dynamic research culture at UFS.”

Prof Walker has been researching and writing about issues in education and higher education for over 20 years. In particular she is interested in opportunities into, through and beyond education across dimensions of dis/advantage, and how higher education contributes to building a decent society by removing inequalities in its own policies and processes.

Through her focus on capacity building – around the common theme of higher education, human development and social justice – Prof Walker is developing a dynamic cohort of new-generation scholars. Her research group of graduate students and post-doctoral fellows is drawn from countries not only in Africa, but as far afield as Finland, India and Vietnam.

Her networks attract international scholars to the UFS, who contribute to research projects, engage graduate students, and add a considerable contribution to research at our university.

In addition, Prof Walker fulfils a host of roles, which includes:

• Tier One National Research Foundation (NRF) Chair in Higher Education and Human Development.
• Vice-President of the international Human Development and Capability Association (HDCA).
• Fellow of the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf).
• Honorary professor, University of Nottingham, UK.

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