Poro Gahekave had an outstanding weekend competing for South Plains College at the National Junior College Indoor track and field Championships in Pittsburgh, Kansas. The 23 year old middle/long distance runner of mixed Eastern Highlands and New Ireland parentage had a tough schedule with five races in two days but the hard work she has put in during recent months enabled her to cope very well with the workload. First up was the distance medley relay on Saturday PNG time where Gahekave helped her team to third place, before qualifying for the 1000m final with a personal best 3:03.42 min. Sunday started with victory for the South Plains team in the 4*800m relay with a school record time. Gahekave then ran the one mile race and placed seventh in a personal best 5:14.34 min. She then went on to finish sixth in the 1000m with a big personal best of 3min 00.92 seconds which is the fastest ever 1000m by a PNG athlete. “Competing like this at Nationals will give Poro a lot of confidence for the outdoor season” said APNG President Tony Green. “This time is faster than the Outdoor National record of 3:02.7 set by Rosemary Omundsen in the lead up to the 1994 Commonwealth Games and Poro appears set to shine in the outdoor season; he added.
