Cecilia going strong in cross country

CECILIA Kumalalamene has made a big impression during her first semester at Iowa Central Community College in the USA.
She travelled to Iowa earlier than team mates Wala Gime, Sharon Kwarula and swimmers Judith Meauri and Ian Nakmai  in order to prepare for the cross country season.
Kumalalamene has been an important member of the Iowa distance squad and helped her team to win the National Junior College Cross Country Championships which were staged in New Mexico last weekend.
Coach Dee Brown has been delighted with Kumalalamene’s contribution.
“She has shown  steady and consistent improvement throughout the season and competed very , very well,” Brown said.
The points she earned for the team last weekend made the difference between second and first place.
Brown’s own contribution was also recognised as he was named cross country coach of the year.
This weekend Kumalalamene heads to Atlanta, Georgia for the final competition of the cross country/road running season, which is the national half marathon championships.
“This is new territory for Cecilia,” PNG Athletics Union president Tony Green said.
“But it is all good preparation for the track season which will begin in the new year”.
Oceania Tennis coordinator Dan O’Connell who facilitated the scholarships at Iowa through the Oceania Foundation, recently paid the five PNG athletes a visit and reported that the athletes are all doing fine, not just with their training, but academically as well.