Sprinter Portelli excels as 2009 Cyprus GSSE draw closer

The 2009 GSSE in Cyprus are now fast approaching and local athletes are striving to deliver top-notch performance to earn a slot on Team Malta for next month's Games.

Elite athlete Nikolai Portelli was not having the best of seasons this year but all that changed late last month.

Portelli ran his first 400m of the season in a remarkable time of 49.03s. He then went on to highlight his improved form by winning both the 100m and 200m dash last Saturday, giving outstanding performances when recording times of 10.6s (hand-timed) and 21.83s respectively.

On the same day, Lara Scerri recorded the fastest female Maltese time over 100m this year, clocking 12.62s. Later in the day Scerri also managed 58.60s in the 400m, coming in second behind training partner Celina Pace who went round in 58.02s.

Youngster Andy Grech is also shining as of late as he never seems to get enough. Grech again improved his own junior national long jump record when leaping 7.18m.

Grech never ceases to surprise and promises more is to come. Female jumpers Angie Mangion and Alessandra Pace both enjoyed a good day when recording best distances of 5.66m and 5.61m respectively.

Long-distance runner Giselle Camilleri has dominated this season and her latest performance over 5,000m attests to this as the time of 17:22.44s has quite possibly earned her a deserved trip to Cyprus.

The fourth aggregate meeting in April saw Haithem Kisheim back on the track, this time running 800m, a shorter distance than usual.

Mario Debono led through the first 600m but struggled coming out of the final bend to finish second in 1:57.96s with Kisheim stopping the clock on 1:56.70s. The fastest local time this year over such a distance remains that of Mark Herrera of 1:54.56s.

Last weekend, Debono decided to stick with the shorter distance, that of 400m. His decision paid off as he produced the third fastest local time this season when running 50.33s.

Marija Sciberras, 17, continues to put in commendable performances on a regular basis. Last weekend wasn't any different as Sciberras went through 100m hurdles in 14.96s.

A very promising youngster indeed as is the 12-year-old Nicole Gatt. Her latest results were 44.95s and 4:05.97s over 300m and 1,200m respectively.