Rwanda take 4th place in Africa X-Country Champs

DESPITE the on-going internal wrangles in the athletics federation, local athletes defied odds to help Rwanda finish fourth in the 2nd edition of the African Cross Country Championships held yesterday in Cape Town, South Africa.

Monday, March 19, 2012

Individual Rankings1. C. Langat (Ken) 35:432. T. Medhin (Eri) 35: 503. A.Tesfay (Eth) 36: 149. R. Kajuga (Rwa) 37:1020. E. Sebahire (Rwa) 38: 0122. JMV Uwajeneza (Rwa) 38: 0826. E. Nzabonimpa (Rwa) 38: 2934. A. Nizeyimana (Rwa) 39: 1140. G. Rutayisire (Rwa) 40: 06Team rankings

1. Kenya 02:26:113. Eritrea 02:27:472. Ethiopia 02:27:534. Rwanda 02:31:505. South Africa 02:32:116. Uganda 02:32:26DESPITE the on-going internal wrangles in the athletics federation, local athletes defied odds to help Rwanda finish fourth in the 2nd edition of the African Cross Country Championships held yesterday in Cape Town, South Africa.A six-man team of Robert Kajuga, Eric Sebahire, Jean Marie Vianney Uwajeneza, Alex Nizeyimana, Evasritse Nzabonimpa and Godfrey Rutayisire beat hosts South Africa, Uganda, Zimbabwe and Botswana to finish fourth in an overall time of 02:31:50 to come behind winners Kenya, Eritrea and Ethiopia.On Individual rankings, Kajuga from SEC academy clocked 37: 10 to finish nine places behind Kenya’s Clement Kiprono Langat who finished one minute and 27 seconds ahead of Kajuga, who had just made another impressive debut in World Indoor Games held in Instabul, Turkey last week.APR’s Eric Sebahire finished 20th, clocking 38:01; Jean Marie Uwajeneza from NAS came  58 seconds behind Kajuga to snatch 22nd position.Nzabonimpa from APR ran 38:29, finishing 26th; Nizeyimana from SEC clocked 39:11 to finish 34th, while Rutayisire from APR too finished in 40th position clocking 40:06 respectively.Rwanda who missed the first edtion used the competition to better prepare the 2013 World Championships which will be held in the Polish city of Bydgoszcz.