Tahriq, 17, a former pupil at the now-defunct Cape Sports Academy, in Lansdowne, finished in seventh place, in a time of 49.68 seconds and Jayson in fourth, in a time of 49.05 seconds.
Athletics Gauteng North’s Zazini Sokwakhana was in a class of his own, taking the 400m sprints title in a time of 47.67 seconds.
Tahriq ran a time of 50.43 seconds in the heats at the ASA youth and junior champs, which was enough to see him qualify for the finals.
The youngster qualified for the national competition after he made the qualifying standard at the Western Province schools’ and junior championships, at Vygieskraal Stadium, in February.
Last week, Tahriq finished fourth, in a time of 48.58 seconds, in the boys’ under-17 400m finals, at the South African high schools’ championships, in Durban. Zazini was again crowned champion in a time of 46.20 seconds.
Despite not making it onto the podium, Tahriq said he enjoyed the experience of competing at two national competitions.
“The ASA youth and junior champs was something new to me because it was the first time that I qualified for it after missing the qualification standard by a few seconds last year. Although most of the athletes ran at SA schools’ the competition at the ASA youth and junior champs was much tougher.
It was a good first time experience and hopefully I can do better next year,” he said
Tahriq, who has ran at the SA schools’ championships on two occasions, got his track and field season off with a bang.
This was after he was crowned 400m sprints champions at the inter-schools, Table Bay zone and Western Cape schools’ championships.
At the WP schools’ and junior championships, he came second in the boys’ 400m sprints, in a time of 48.95 seconds behind Jayson who won the gold medal, in a time of 48.73 seconds.
“This year has been one of my best track and field seasons.The higher the competition went the better I became. Credit should go to my friends and family who have supported me every step of the way.
“Next year I would like to go a step further and win the gold medal,” he said.
His mother and number one supporter, Zoghrah said she is proud of how her son has improved in a short space of time.
“The fact that he made the finals of two major competitions shows that anything is possible. I am chuffed at the way he has performed and I believe he can only get better from here.
“I would like to see him improve on his times and to fulfil his dreams of representing South Africa in the near future,” she said.