PNG’s Leonie Beu is in peak form as the track season draws to a close in the USA JuniorCollege programme. The Morobe athlete posted massive personal best performances on sunday in both the 200m and 400m during the NJCCA Regional VI Championships at Arkansas City , Kansas. Beu clocked 24.12 seconds in the 200m heats and 54.79 secs in a thrilling 400m where she was just edged out on the line by Butler CC athlete Kaleb McDonald who ran 54.78.. Leonie’s previous personal best times outdoors were 24.77 and55.71 respectively, though she did run 24.59 on the same track earlier this year with the aid of a +2.5mps wind. Beu took longer to adjust to the cold of Kansas than her teammate IsilaApkup who had an outstanding indoor season, but her quality has shone through outdoors as Apkup’s progress was slowed down by a hamstring strain.
Emmanuel Wanga is also getting close to his best times in the 200m and 400m which he recorded early in 2019 whilst training full time for the Pacific Games. Wanga ran 21.75 secs for the 200m and 48.19 in the 400m,with Shadrick Tansi not far behind him with 21.90. Tansiran his seasons in the 400m on 10 April with a 48.84 second clocking. The pair have also featured in some outstanding 4*400m relay races this season including one where the team ran 3mins 12.22 seconds indoors which earned them third place at the Nationals. The athletes now have just eight days to prepare for the Junior College Outdoor National Championships which will be held in Levelland Tx from May 12 to 14.
