The University of Papua New Guinea played host to the Southern Region Athletics Championships last week for the second consecutive year thanks to three days of hard work by Peter Aglua and his team of Port Moresby athletes who marked the track in preparation for the event. With the university grounds having been closed to sporting codes for some time and no other venue available in the City it was necessary to mark the track again from scratch. A couple of teams from central Province and five from Kerema joined several teams from the NCD for the two day event. A full range of throwing events was conducted this year due to the efforts of Coach Paul Bannister and his wife who provided much of the equipment and conducted the events. A hammer throw was conducted for the first time in PNG for many years with three ladies and two mens having a go. Lily Poroli won the womens 4kg event with 25.40 metres and Debono Paraka the mens by throwing the 7.26kg hammer 26.99m. Paraka was also in good form with the discus, with a best throw of 47.02 metres.
Nazmie Lee marai , best known as a sprinter displayed his potential as an all-rounder with a 6metre long jump and a 43m javelin throw. There was disappointment for competitors in the high jump however with no equipment being available to stage the event after some had travelled long distances to compete. Dwayne Koroka was again outstanding in the mens sprints with his Pom IS school mate Christopher Tuam also impressing. As was the case last year however good times in the sprints were difficult to achieve due to headwinds.
September 25, 2014
Last Modified on 02/10/2014 11:08