Kaputin shines at Texas meet, sets PNG records

RELLIE Kaputin was again the star on an action packed weekend for nine of the eleven Papua New Guinea athletes in the USA who competed in various events around the country.
Kaputin led her West Texas A&M University team to their fourth consecutive Lone Star Conference Indoor Championships as she won all three jumping events, setting two PNG National records in the process.
First up was the long jump where her last effort of 6.27-metres  was not only a record for the conference but the eleventh best mark in the entire history of NCAA Division Two indoor competition.
Next was the high jump where Kaputin won the event on countback in a seasons best 1.71m.
In only her second triple jump competition of the season the PNG record holder then improved her own mark to 12.88m to win by a big margin.
Kaputin is now looking forward to the NCAA Division 2 National Championships in three weeks time leading the rankings in both long and triple jump.
At the same competition which was held in Alamosa, Colorado, Peniel Richard also posted a big improvement in his personal best with a 7.02m long jump followed by a seasons best 1.95m in high jump.
In his favourite triple jump event on the second day, Richard continued his recent run of good form with a 15.22m effort that earned him fourth place.
Adrine Monagi continued to improve in the multi events and posted a personal best 3677 points in the five event pentathlon which included a fine 8.72 seconds for the 60m hurdles and an excellent 1.67m high jump.
Meanwhile down in New Mexico, Poro Gahekave  clocked 3 minutes and 03.66 seconds for the 1000m and Shirley Vunatup 58.05 seconds for 400m while Naomi Kerari  struggled to replicate her training form  in competition, clearing only 1.56m in the high jump.
Over in Minnesota, Afure Adah continued her good form with an excellent clocking of 24.71 seconds for 200m which when adjusted for the track specifications ranks her sixth in the country in Division 2.
Newcomers to the USA, Robson Yinambe and Wesley Logorava were both in action for Cloud County Community College at their Regional Indoor Championships in Pittsburg, Kansas.
Yinambe posted an improved points total of 4279 in the seven event heptathlon compared to his 4160 three weeks previously.
The Pacific Games decathlon gold medallist has shown his competitive nature with some gritty performances. His running events have been good, with a 7.24 clocking for 60m, 8.93secs for 60m hurdles and 2min 52 seconds in the 1000m.
Logorava found the transition from outdoor running to a 200m indoor track with tight curves quite a challenge but has posted faster times in each of his five races to date, with 22.49 seconds last Saturday being his season best