NamibiaSport

Edward Kaunivi of Okahandja won the PriceWaterhouseCoopers National 15km championships for the second year in a row in a time of 51 minutes 31 seconds on Saturday morning.

Kaunivi beat veteran Luketz Swartbooi in a sprint to the line, as Swartbooi finished second in 51:35, while Johannes Naitembu came third in 51:44.

The participants struggled in icy cold conditions, and a stiff wind, with the result that the winning times were not very fast. In 2008 Kaunivi won the race in a much faster time of 46:48, after beating Naitembu in a sprint to the line.

The 24-year-old Kaunivi has emerged as one of Namibia’s top road runners over the past two years.

In 2008 he came second overall in the Old Mutual Victory Races and earlier this year he won the Caltex 10km Road Running Championships. Kaunivi, who trains on his own in Okahandja, said his dream was to represent Namibia at the World Cross Country Championships.

Rachel Akukuthela won the women’s category in a time of 1:04:16. Ottile Aimwata came second in 1:06:35 while Sieglinde Gontes came third in 1:12:04.
In 2008 Akukuthela came second behind Helalia Johannes who is currently on a training camp in Germany in preparation for the World Athletics Championships.

A total of 82 athletes entered the championships which catered for various age group categories as well as walkers.

Wendelinus Ameshu won the walking category in 1:01:12, followed by Tobias Abisai who came second in 1:03:51. Achime Herma won the masters category in 1:12:04.

It was the fourth successive year that the National 15km Championships had been sponsored by PriceWaterhouseCoopers. Before that Rossing sponsored the championships for 16 years in a row.