KAYLA Richardson, who wants to keep her slot in the national team, broke the Philippine national record in the women’s 400-meter run.
The 17-year-old Richardson finished with a time of 54.06 seconds last Saturday in the finals of the Battle on the Bayou athletics meet in Louisiana.
According to the event’s official website, Richardson landed ninth place overall, with Kendall Ellis winning the gold in 50.98 seconds.
Cameron Pettigrew and Travia Jones took the silver and bronze in 52.11 and 52.25 seconds.
Richardson’s clocking eclipsed the national mark which used to belong to Zion Corrales-Nelson, who clocked 54.18 seconds in the British Columbia championships two years ago.
Richardson is currently training under University of Southern California coaches Carol Gilbert and Quincey Watts, the 1992 Olympic 400-meter champion.
Kayla’s dad, Jeffrey Richardson, wrote in a Facebook message her daughter is in good shape to defend her 100-meter title in the coming Southeast Asian Games. He believes that with her good performances in the 400-meters, she will be able to go below 54 seconds in the in the coming days.
This will also help prepare Kayla when the time comes that she lowers her distance to 100-meters in her training.
Kayla skipped the 2017 Ayala-Philippine National Open in Isabela because of school commitments.
