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UCT athletes pull out all the stops

23 April 2019 | Story Niémah Davids. Photo Supplied. Read time 3 min.
UCT athletes (from left) Megan McCarley, Amy Abrahams and Rebekah Swanepoel helped earn a gold medal in the women’s half marathon championship.
UCT athletes (from left) Megan McCarley, Amy Abrahams and Rebekah Swanepoel helped earn a gold medal in the women’s half marathon championship.

The University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Athletics Club is home to two new medals after an impressive performance by the institution’s athletes at the 2019 University Sports South Africa (USSA) tournament earlier this month.

UCT Athletics chairperson Oduor Ochieng praised students Sophie Cope, Amy Abrahams, Megan McCarley and Rebekah Swanepoel for pulling out all the stops in the women‘s half marathon and bringing home the team competition gold medal for UCT.

Thalosang Tshireletso, meanwhile, won a silver medal in the men’s triple jump.

Paralympian Mpumelelo Mhlongo, a chemical engineering PhD student, also put in an impressive sporting performance to qualify for the long jump final and 100-metre sprint semi-final, while medical honours student Christian Cotchobos finished in sixth place in the 800-metre men’s final.

A proud moment

Ochieng said he was especially proud of Mhlongo, who participated in two big events on the same day, describing his performance as “commendable to say the least”.

Mhlongo said he was excited to see that more athletes participated in this year’s USSA tournament than in previous years.

“There is no substitute for the value sport adds to an individual and community, especially given that one of the most historic moments of our democratic history was shaped by the ’95 rugby sporting moment of the nation lifting the [World] Cup.

 

“Whether I am in the green and gold or in the steel blue, I always burst with pride.”

“Whether I am in the green and gold or in the steel blue, I always burst with pride.”

Ochieng said while the club won one less medal than in 2018, an equal amount of training and planning went into this year’s sporting event and spirits remained high. He told UCT News that the club has also embarked on a journey of growth and transformation, the results of which will be evident only in future seasons.

“Competing at this level requires a lot of preparation and planning, and a lot of hard work has been happening behind the scenes. The mood has been joyful and reflective,” Ochieng added.

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December graduation


The 2018 December graduation season features six ceremonies, including the official robing of Vice-Chancellor Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng.


 

Full ceremony recordings



 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Creative works and book awards


UCT recognises and celebrates major creative works and outstanding books produced by members of staff at the university.

Twin cities connect struggle and liberation sites Associate Professor Svea Josephy received a Creative Works Award for her solo exhibition, Satellite Cities, at today’s graduation. It is one of three such awards. 13 Dec 2018
Symphony of elements wins Creative Works Award Professor Hendrik Hofmeyr, of the South African College of Music, receives a Creative Works Award at today’s graduation for his composition Second Symphony – The Elements. 13 Dec 2018
Creative Works Award for Womb of Fire Dr Sara Matchett’s Creative Works Award winner, Womb of Fire, addresses how centuries of violence in South Africa continue to play out on women’s bodies. 13 Dec 2018
UCT Book Award for classics scholar Professor David Wardle’s work Suetonius: Life of Augustus has won him the 2018 UCT Book Award. 13 Dec 2018
 

Inspired to achieve


Read about some of our remarkable students who are graduating this season.

Four doctors, two families make it a double It’s not often that two sets of brothers who are close friends graduate from the same two faculties – and each with the title of doctor. 14 Dec 2018
Commitment, passion and dogged determination Due to graduate with a PhD in Medical Biochemistry, Kehilwe Nakedi reflects on her academic journey and the pleasure of seeing things finally fall into place. 12 Dec 2018
UCT remedies a past injustice The story of Raymond Suttner receiving his LLM from UCT almost half a century after withdrawing his thesis from examination has captured imaginations around the country. 11 Dec 2018
Unspeakable tragedy yields master’s degree When Mabuyi Mhlanga’s young daughter died in a car accident two years ago, she channelled her grief into addressing the issue of road safety around schools. 11 Dec 2018
‘I want to reach the places my father did not’ Tafadzwa Mushonga will be the first PhD graduate from the Centre for Environmental Humanities South, forging ahead from where her father left off. 10 Dec 2018
A passion for education From a young age, masterʼs graduand Sonwabo Ngcelwane has seen education as the key to rising above one’s circumstances – no matter how challenging. 10 Dec 2018
Never too late to overcome the odds PhD candidate Witness Kozanayi relied on his determination, the support and sacrifice of others, and a fascination for his homeland to fuel his academic success. 07 Dec 2018
Growing pesticide, lead threat to vultures Vultures play a vital housekeeping role in the wild, but like many African raptors they’re threatened by pesticide and heavy metal poisoning, says PhD candidate Beckie Garbett. 07 Dec 2018
 

Golden memories


Members of the University of Cape Town’s class of 1968 will reunite to celebrate their Golden Graduation this week. Madi Gray, a veteran of the nine-day Bremner sit-in of 1968, will be among those UCT alumni celebrating this milestone.

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