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Kovsies secure fourth place at 2025 USSA Track & Field Championships

09 May 2025 | Story Vuyelwa Mbebe and Onthatile Tikoe | Photo Hannes Naude

Mthi Mthimkhulu from the University of the Free State, finishing first in the men’s 400-metre race, surpassing NWU runners-up.

The University of the Free State (UFS) athletics team secured a top five slot at the 2025 University Sports South Africa (USSA) Track and Field Championships, earning fourth place at the event, hosted at the Pilditch Stadium in Pretoria from 1 to 3 May.

University athletes from across South Africa gathered for the championships, which is a key fixture on the USSA calendar. After delivering stellar performances across a broad spectrum of events, UFS went up against 21 other participating universities in various track and field categories.

The standout female athletes at this year’s event were Gabriella Marais, Nicola Gibbon, Lizandré Mulder, and Tyla Wasmüth. Marais scored a first-place finish in the women’s 100-metre race and came second in the women’s 200-metre category. Gibbon, who participated in the women’s 400-metre category, scored third position. Mulder took third and first place in the 5 000-metre and 3 000-metre women’s steeplechase categories respectively. Wasmüth placed in the top three in the women’s shot put and discus throw.

The male athletes who stood out by grabbing first-place wins in their respective categories were Mthi Mthimkhulu in the men’s 400-metre race, Molifi Mohlomi in the men’s 800-metre race, and Wernich van Rensburg in the men’s 400-metre hurdles. Dumisani Motloung took third place in the men’s 1500-metre category, and Samkelo Dlamini took second place for the long jump field sports category.

KovsieSport’s Kesaoleboga Molotsane, UFS Sport Manager for athletics, said the UFS coaching staff need to be kept motivated, as they are the first point of contact with their sports stars. “Unlike team sports, we work with individual athletes who require different and various attention. We only need to motivate the athletes to continue working hard, to study hard, and balance out their responsibilities.” She added that individual performances and athlete placements all helped UFS achieve its overall fourth place at the USSA Championships.

Kovsies can look forward to seeing Mthi Mthimkulu at the World Athletics Relays championships, taking place in China this weekend (10 and 11 May). He’ll be representing South Africa and will be the only Kovsie attending.

Mthimkhulu, Marais, and Van Renburg have also qualified for the upcoming World University Games, to be held in Rhine-Ruhr, Germany, in July. Molotsane encouraged fellow Kovsies to support these and other UFS athletes, whose journeys reflect the spirit of Kovsie athletics.

News Archive

School of Open Learning opens access to education

2011-12-08

Lanterns filled the night sky as UFS staff and guests celebrate the launch of the School of Open Learning at the university’s South Campus.
Photo: Johan Pretorius

A school which intends to expand the boundaries of the University of the Free State (UFS), providing good quality higher education that is based on open learning principles. That is what the School of Open Learning at the UFS’ South Campus is all about. The School was officially launched at the Campus on 28 November 2011.

Prof. Daniella Coetzee, Dean of the School, told guests at the launch that the School will provide opportunities other than traditional learning in higher education and open up access to those who have not had the opportunity to study at a higher education institution. This includes taking programmes and courses to students at off-campus sites. The School of Open Learning currently has 46 off-campus sites across most of the provinces, i.e. Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal, North West, Eastern Cape, Northern Cape, Limpopo and the Free State. The off-campus sites are serviced by a total of 350 university lecturers and well-trained facilitators and tutors.

At the moment most of the programmes and courses managed by the School of Open Learning have their academic home in the Faculty of Education, providing upgrading of the qualifications of teachers as well as in-service training. In 2011 the School of Open Learning enrolled more than 4000 students for the Education courses. To date a total of 28 000 teachers have been enrolled at the School to upgrade their teaching qualifications.

Collaboration with the Faculty of Law in the presentation of a BIuris degree on off-campus sites is also on the calendar for 2012. This degree will be offered through contact and E-learning at three off-campus sites: Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town.

The University Preparation Programme (UPP) will also form part of the School of Open Learning. This programme has proven to be extremely successful in providing students access to undergraduate degrees at the UFS. The curriculum for this bridging year offers courses from the Faculties of Economic and Management Sciences, Human and Social Sciences as well as Natural and Agricultural Sciences. Since 1993 more than 4500 students have enrolled for degree purposes after successfully completing the UPP: 1641 degrees have been awarded to students who began their studies in the programme (including 168 honours degrees; 25 master’s and 8 M.B.Ch.B. degrees). The existing foundation course in the UPP is being adapted to also serve NQF level 4 in further education. As far back as 1998, the Sunday Times (Best in Education, 1998:1) named this programme as “one of the most innovative education programmes” in a special supplement on higher education in South Africa.

Also speaking at the event, Prof. Jonathan Jansen, Vice-Chancellor and Rector, said the South Campus is to become intellectually alive with possibilities. He said the university will make sure there are seminars, conferences and classes where students can mingle across the university’s three campuses.

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