
Mariske completed her BSc (Sport Science ) degree at the University of Stellenbosch in 2016. She started her racing career at tender age of 10 and has been lining up on start lines ever since.
Mariske began racing competitively in 2008 and went on to represent South Africa for the first time in Italy that same year. She has been SA XCO Champion a total of 15 times and represented South Africa at the 2014 & 2018 Commonwealth Games. She came 2nd & 3rd in the 2017&2018 ABSA Cape Epic and was selected for the 2015 Mail&Guardian Top 200 Young South Africans in 2015.
Besides currently racing professionally for SILVERBACK on the XCO World Cup series, she is also a coach at Science2Sport. Here is where the gap is bridged between scientific research and men and woman in the field.