Zimpapers Logo

Innocent Kurira, Sports Reporter
ALL is set for the National Athletics Association of Zimbabwe (Naaz) national cross-country championships at Hillside Dams in Bulawayo on Saturday.

Top athletes from the country’s nine athletics provinces will converge in the City of Kings for the annual meet to determine the new kings and queens of cross-country.

Defending national 10km cross-country champions, Bulawayo province, say they are ready to defend the title they won last year.

Bulawayo Athletics Board (Bab) chairperson Manuel Mpofu said Team Bulawayo was ready to conquer the nation for the second time in a row.

“Our goal is simple; we want to defend our title. We have assembled a strong squad and hope to emulate last year’s performance. Athletes were selected according to their performances in the two cross-country events we held this year where some good times were recorded,” said Mpofu.

“We are the defending champions and are confident that we can use familiarity to home conditions to come out tops again. The team has been having regular training sessions under the supervision of experienced coaches. We are confident this will be another great year for athletics in Bulawayo,” Mpofu said.

Team Bulawayo is being coached by Nosimilo Sibanda, Bhaar Mpofu and Benson Mwanza.

Some of the runners the province has confidence in are Xolani Nkiwane, Isaac Mpofu and Trust Chidomaya in the senior men’s category.

The senior women’s team will pin its hopes on Annie Chirisa and Liner Tom, among others.

Registration fees for athletes not affiliated to any province have been pegged at $2 for juniors and $3 for seniors. The event will start at 8am.

@innocentskizoe