Event unearths new talents

A HUGELY successful PNG Air National Track and Field Championships ended on Sunday afternoon at Sir John Guise Stadium in Port Moresby after two-and-a-half days of action in fine weather.
Many good performances were recorded and new talents exposed which will strengthen Athletics Papua New Guinea’s (APNG) development squad for the 2022 Pacific Mini Games in Saipan and the 2023 Pacific Games in the Solomon Islands.
PNG and overseas athletics followers were able to see some of the action live, with many commenting on the high quality of the live streaming broadcast by Cre8ive Media PNG and an average of 800 people per day tuned in.
Sprinters found the going tough with headwinds on average of 3m per second which affected the times in the 200m and in the 100m heats, though for the 100m finals, athletes were able to run with the benefit of tailwinds.
Favourites Toea Wisil and Leroy Kamau took out the 100m titles and although Kamau clocked 10.57 seconds, it could have been much faster.
Athletes don’t get to run in such favourable conditions very often and Kamau will be regretting taking his foot off the gas well before the finish line.
The young female sprinters and long jumpers from New Britain fared well as expected, with 15-year-old Vivian Tutuai one of the stars of the juniors and Danlyne Siliwen competing very well in the Under-18s.
Their long jump performances compare very favourably with the distances that Rellie Kaputin and Annie Topal were achieving at a similar age.
However, the National Capital District’s (NCD) Daniella Paubali took out the U16 100m title and placed second in the 200m.
The U18 men’s 100m produced one of the best races of the weekend with only 4/100th of a second separating the first three runners.
West New Britain’s Graham Bai won in 11.05s with NCD’s Chabby Solomon second in 11.07s and Timothy Tuna third in 11.09s.
Timothy, son of PNG sprint legend Takale Tuna, was able to turn the tables on Bai in the 200m, coming out on top in a time of 22.93s.
He also placed second in the 400m with a time of 53.32s, showing that he can be competitive in all three sprints just like his dad who won the 200m gold at the 1991 Pacific Games as well as silver in 100m and 400m.
Fifteen-year-old Lenia Gilis who caused an upset in the 400m in Kimbe recently, beating national representative Edna Boafob was not quite able to repeat the feat this time.
Though she won the U16 200m, Gilis chose to pass up the opportunity for an easy win in the 400m and contested the women’s 400m.
This time, Morobe all-rounder Boafob was ready for the challenge and was in dominant form in the 200m and 400m.
Kamau won a very competitive men’s 400m from Daniel Baul and Emmanuel Wanga with all three running under 49 seconds.
With Benjamin Aliel on the sidelines through injury, a rising talent in Jonathan Dende and with both Shadrick Tansi and Ephraim Lerkin in the United States, the national men’s 4x400m squad is looking very strong.
In the middle distance events, the men’s 800m on Sunday was a great race with only 17/100th of a second separating the top three runners.
The absence of George Yamak, who did not show up for the final, was a mystery and this gave youngsters Adolf Kauba (West New Britain), Theo Jonathan (NCD) and Samuel Pai the chance to shine.
The men’s 1,500m on Saturday morning was, however, arguably the best race of the weekend.
It was always expected to be close with in-form Siune Kagl and Israel Takap being challenged by Abel Siune and PNG representatives Yamak and Andipas Georasi.
Siune was out to prove a point after being left out of the Chimbu team and surged into the lead with 120m to go.
Young Aquila Turalom, of WNB, was also in a good position and with early leaders Kagl and Takap tiring, a late surge from Georasi and Yamak saw four athletes crossing the line within 1.14 seconds.
Siune showed great determination to hold on to take the gold in four minutes, 09.67s from Georasi, Turalom and Yamak.
NCD’s Robert Oa — who was on APNG’s radar for the 2019 Pacific Games but didn’t make it for personal reasons — was in great form, winning the 110m hurdles and triple jump.
All-rounder Eldan Toti won the long jump (7m) and high jump (1.90m).
Young Kenneth Harrison, of ENB, who won the U18 long jump title last year, showed his class again, competing well against older athletes with a best jump of 6.71m.
Javelin national record holder Lakona Gerega was in fine form, throwing 64m which is just 89cm short of his record.
In the women’s throws, Jacklyn Travertz was in fine form throwing 40m in the hammer whilst Sharon Toako was the clear winner in the javelin and discus and just edged Travertz in the shot put.
APNG extended its huge thanks to all those who made the event possible especially major sponsor PNG Air as well as the many other support sponsors, including Prima Smallgoods, Lae Biscuit Company, Fedex (TNT), Guard Dog Security Systems, PNG Olympic Committee, Coral Sea Hotels, Cherry Lin and the high performance division of the PNG Sports Foundation.
“Thanks are also expended to the group of technical officials from Australian Border Force who assisted coach Paul Bannister to conduct the throwing events,” APNG president Tony Green said in a statement yesterday,
Athletics competitions usually end on a high each day with the relays and this one was no exception as an epic mens 4x100m final unfolded. Only one third of a second separated the top-three teams as Nelson Stone’s team of national athletes Baul, Kamau, Aliel and Toti held off a very strong challenge from Lae’s Ezekiel Nawas, Emmanuel Wanga Eliakim Nadiloi and Joe Enoch to win with a time of 42.28s.
Another NCD team, Gordon Secondary School, were third in 42.60s.