Lihir tipped for Nat’l champs

TEAM Lihir are likely to dominate this weekend’s PNG Powerthon National championships at Ela Beach in Port Moresby.
Twenty-four competitors have signed up for the Olympic distance triathlon event which consists of a 1.5km swim, 40km cycle and a 10km run tomorrow.
The event attracted teams from Lihir, Manus, Buka, Madang, Wewak and host Port Moresby.
The competitors are: Caroline McGann, Ali Nott, Simon Nutley, Justin McGann, Scott Bishop, Ben Ellinger, Neil Papenfus, Mairi Feeger, Dave Whitehead, Lexsy Kila, Brendan Raftery, Stoney Masuin, Ilya Gridneff, Hunter Beirne, Andrew Schloeffel, Andrew Matz (Port Moresby). Polihau Popeliau (Manus) and Tim O’Sullivan, Jan Kubat, David Grigg, Gerard Baarslag, Jonothan Hardy, Caroline Hardy (Lihir) and Richard Jones (Madang), Poliau Popeliau (Manus).
The team event will  see five Port Moresby teams including Milsearch, Steamships Shipping, Price WaterhouseCooper, Port Services while Team Lae, IMPS and Hutjena High School (Bougainville) are from outside NCD.
Stephen Damien from UpSouth Event said the Solomon Islanders have withdrawn due to financial problems.
“The Solomons team withdrew but the race on Saturday (tomorrow),  is significant, as we will select our PNG team to the Arafura Games (May 2011) from this event.” he said.