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07 March 2018
Photo Supplied
Ts’epang Sello, one of the Kovsie contenders for a medal at Friday’s Varsity athletics meeting.
Ts’epang Sello, one of the Kovsie contenders
for a medal at Friday’s Varsity athletics meeting.
Photo: Supplied
The University of the Free State will hope to start developing their next Wayde van Niekerk when the first Varsity athletics meeting takes place on Friday at the Tuks Athletics Stadium in Pretoria.
The second meeting is on 23 March, also in Pretoria.
Thirteen members (five men and eight women) of the Kovsie team of 25 are still under the age of 21.
The hope for medals among the men would be on Sefako Mokhosoa (triple jump), Hendrik Maartens, and Tsebo Matsoso (both 200 m). Mokhosoa, who represented South Africa last year at the Southern Region Championships, is in red-hot form and achieved a personal best of 16.13 m at the Motheo/Xhariep meeting two weeks ago. This is currently the third best distance in the country for 2018.
Maartens would like to go one step further. In last year’s final Varsity meeting, he finished second in 20.62. Great things are expected of Matsoso, a first-year student who competed at the African Junior Championship in 2017. Last year, he was one of the top athletes at school level by winning the SA title in a time of 21.14.
Ts’epang Sello (800 m) and Elmé Smith (100 m and 200 m) will lead the charge for the women. Sello already came close to her personal best (2:09.8) this year, while Smith has also been running fast times. Her best this year was 11.88 (100 m) and 24.53 (200 m).
Tyler Beling (1 500 m) is another first-year student who is showing great potential. She obtained a fourth position at last weekend’s CAA Southern Region Cross-country Championships. Maryke Brits (100 m hurdles and long jump) is a possible medallist, despite running her first event for the year on Wednesday night.
The meeting starts at 17:15 and will be broadcast on SuperSport 5.
Researcher in Plant Breeding one of nine women on the African continent to receive acknowledgement for work in food security
2015-08-04
Prof Maryke Labuschagne |
Prof Maryke Labuschagne, Plant Breeding researcher in the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of the Free State (UFS), is one of only nine women on the African continent to receive the prestigious ‘Country Lifetime Achiever Award’ from Africa’s Most Influential Women in Business and Government Programme (MIW) this year.
During a breakfast event, CEO Communications recognised the Most Influential Women in SADC South who are Building Nations. The event took place at the Vodacom Dome in Midrand on 28 July 2015.
She received the award for her commitment and continuous contributions to food security. “I am concerned about this. We need to develop people who can go into Africa to work together for food security on the continent,” says Prof Labuschagne.
Prof Labuschagne and her students’ research focuses on the genetic improvement of food security crops in Africa, including such staples as maize and cassava. “These crops are genetically improved for yield, drought tolerance, disease, and insect resistance, as well nutritional value.”
“Food security is one of the key factors for stability and prosperity on the continent,” she says.
Apart from the fact that her research is helping to provide food for thousands of people on the continent, she is also an NRF-rated researcher, and author or co-author of over 160 articles in accredited journals.
This is not the firstaward that Prof Labuschagne has received for her work. In 2008, she was chosen as the National Agriculturalist of the Year by the Agricultural Writers Association of South Africa. In 2012, she received the Researcher of the Year award from Grain South Africa, as well as the African Union’s Kwame Nkrumah Science Award for Life Sciences on the continent.
The Country Lifetime Achiever Award is a prestigious award that recognises and honours the lifelong efforts, achievements, and contributions by individuals in their local communities. This recognition covers all sectors and countries, to create a platform where the work and involvement of extraordinary people can be displayed and noted.
About the award, Prof Labuschagne says: “It is always great to be recognised for your work.”
Elana Meyer (athlete) and Thuli Madonsela (Public Protector and advocate) have also received awards from the programme this year.