National records renewed in PON's track and field

By Ivy Susanti

SURABAYA (JP): Three Olympic Games qualifiers -- men's pole vaulter Nunung Jayadi, women's long distance runner Supriati Sutono and men's sprinter Yanes Raubaba -- performed impressively on the third day of track and field events at the 15th National Games (PON) on Monday.

Despite gaining gold medals for their respective provinces, they also managed to break national and PON records at Delta Stadium, Sidoarjo, some 20 kilometers south of here.

Meanwhile, host East Java stood on top in the medals tally with 95 golds, 74 silvers and 67 bronzes. Defending champion Jakarta was second with 73 golds, 54 silvers and 61 bronzes, followed by West Java with 51 golds, 58 silvers and 62 bronzes.

Nunung of Jakarta jumped 5.10 meters to improve his best of 5.05m set in the 1999 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Brunei Darussalam. Younger brother Saini earned a silver for Jakarta and old hand pole vaulter Nirman K. Rampai of Central Kalimantan took the bronze. Both Saini and Nirman jumped 4.20m.

Nunung also managed to sharpen the old PON record of 4.70m produced by Nirman in the 1989 PON in Jakarta. Nunung, however, failed to jump 5.15m.

"I tried to jump 5.15m but my thighs couldn't stand it. I also had no more power to run," he said, adding that he was using his old pole as the new one bought by the National Sports Council prior to SEA Games did not suit him.

"I think the pole doesn't fit me. Four times I tried to jump, four times I was thrown away," he said.

Supriati of West Java set the new PON record in the 5,000m final in 16 minutes and 36.41 seconds, sharpening the old record of 17:08.87 by Agida F. Amaral of East Timor in 1989. Sintawati of Central Java finished second with 17:37.98 and Very Subnafeu of East Nusa Tenggara was third with 17:40.33.

"This is a sweet birthday gift for me and the first gold I've got after recovering from my injury," said Supriati, who turned 28 last Saturday. She expressed hope of qualifying for the Olympics in the Asian Track and Field Championships in Jakarta in August.

Yanes of Irian Jaya could not hide his excitement after touching the finish line first in the men's 100m dash in 10.13 seconds. He waved his hands and kneeled down on the track before cheerful Irianese supporters.

"I believe God has granted me this victory. I don't have any other motivation except to give my best for Papua," he said, referring to the province's popular local name.

Yanes broke national and PON records by 10.20, set by Mardi Lestari in the 1989 PON. Host runner Erwin Heru Susanto was second with 10.16, followed by John Murray of Irian Jaya with 10.23. John also fulfilled the Olympics time limit B of 10.40.

At the archery shooting range, Rosena Gelanteh of West Java scored 331 in the women's 40 meters shoot of the national round to improve her own PON record of 316 made in 1989. She also broke the national record of 318 established by Lilis Handayani in 1994.

Olympics qualifier Hamdiah of East Kalimantan finished second with 319 while Yuliana of Jambi was third with 308.

In the men's 40m shoot of the national round, host archer Hendra Setijawan scored 323 to set a new PON record and national record. The previous PON record was 321 and the national record was 321, set by Agus Pancaji in 1993.

There was no record breaking from the swimming pool but Albert Christiadi Sutanto ended the swimming event by presenting three golds for Jakarta from the men's 200m freestyle, 200m butterfly stroke and 4x100 team relay event.

Medal Tally (as of 9:00 p.m.)

Provinces G S B East Java 95 74 67 Jakarta 73 54 61 West Java 51 58 62 Central Java 32 37 43 Lampung 19 18 25 Jambi 13 7 12 North Sumatra 9 8 12 East Kalimantan 9 8 11 South Sulawesi 8 11 12 South Kalimantan 8 6 8 Irian Jaya 8 5 10 North Sulawesi 7 8 10 Bali 7 6 10 Yogyakarta 6 11 18 Southeast Sulawesi 5 1 5 South Sumatra 4 13 12 West Kalimantan 4 7 6 Riau 3 8 7 Central Kalimantan 2 9 10 Maluku 2 3 3 Central Sulawesi 1 1 2 West Sumatra - 3 4 East Nusa Tenggara - 2 5 Bengkulu - 2 3 Aceh - 1 9 West Nusa Tenggara - - 2