Auckland-based sprinter Marielle Venida was third in her heat in the the senior women’s 100-meter sprints in the ongoing 2024 Oceania Championships on Wednesday in Suva, Fiji.
Venida clocked 11.88 seconds, behind top heat qualifier Ebony Lane (11.55) and Brooke Sommerfeld (11.82)
The 18-year-old Venida earlier had a time of 11.85 seconds to place second in the first round heats on Tuesday.
Venida, an accounting student, recently showed times that were near the performances of Philippine track legend Lydia de Vega.
“The race was all right. I didn’t really feel my best going into the race but I did as good as I could in the moment. Hopefully tomorrow will be a lot better,” said Marielle before she competed in the semis in an interview with the Manila Standard.
Venida recently won the women’s under-20 100-meter sprint during the ICTSI-Philippine Athletic Championships in 11.65 seconds.
Meanwhile, Filipino-American pole vaulter Alyanna Nicolas recently ruled the EAP-Malta International meet 2024, getting the gold medal in 3.62 meters.
Her feat was 8 cms shorter than season’s best of 3.8 meters, which she did in a Reno, Nevada meet last Jan. 12.
Sam Grillo of Maltas settled for the silver in 3.62 meters, ahead of American bet Taylor Witana, who also had the same leap.
