PNG athlete graduates from US institute

Tuna Tine has graduated from New Mexico Military Institute in Roswell, NM, after completing her two year programme there.

Whilst primarily a military school as the name indicates, NMMI is also a recognised Junior College and participates in National Junior College sporting programmes.

Whilst NMMI does not have a track and field team, it does have a Cross Country Programme and it was through this programme that Tine was offered a full scholarship for two years, following in the footsteps of New Ireland athlete, Esther Simon, who graduated last year and then moved onto a University.

On behalf of Athletics PNG, President Tony Green congratulated Tine on her graduation.

“We know that Tuna has worked incredibly hard for the last two years and we are very proud of her,” said Green.  

“It is not always possible to align our programmes and major Games with those of individual colleges and universities in the USA as well as the academic pursuits of individual athletes. However, both girls definitely have a future in track and field and we are now working with Tuna to help her secure a scholarship to a university so she can gain a degree and be part of a good track programme as well as future PNG teams.”

The lockdown this year has effectively given many student athletes an extra year in the USA, meaning they have more time to complete their studies whilst still competing in the same number of seasons of track and field.

Tags: 
Author: 
Press release