Athletes primed

TWO national records in rarely-run events and numerous personal bests have given the national track squad a boost as they prepare to head to Apia, Samoa, this weekend.
A top 400m performance from Benjamin Aliel with a personal best time of 47.7 seconds was the highlight of the squad’s time trials at Barlow Park in Cairns, Australia, this week.
Ephraim Lerkin announced his return to form with a national record time of one minute, 21.1 seconds for the 600m, ahead of Messach Fred and George Yamak.
Donna Koniel was also in great form in the 300m hurdles, improving on the 43.29 seconds she set prior to the 2015 Games with a new mark of 43.1.
She was pushed all the way by Annie Topal who set a strong pace in the first 200m.
Raylyne Kanam also showed improvement with a time of 44.9 secondss.
Simbai Kaspar maintained his dominant form in the 3000m with a personal best of eight minutes, 54 seconds whilst Poro Gahekave also made a big improvement in her personal best with a time of 10 minutes, 25 seconds.
In the men’s sprints, Theo Piniau came out on top in the 100m whereas Shadrick Tansi was the clear winner in the 200m with a personal best 21.5 seconds ahead of Piniau, Daniel Baul and Thoa Ora.
Leonie Beu was the clear winner in the women’s 100m ahead of Isila Apkup with Nancy Malamut and Miriam Peni vying for third.