UNITED STATES based Kayla Richardson is getting close to hitting the bronze medal standard of the women’s 400-meter run of the Southeast Asian Games.
Last weekend, Richardson clocked 54.62 seconds in the second heat of the event at the Trojan Invitationals in Los Angeles, California.
According to the official website, She is 36/100ths of a second near the time of Shereen Vallabough of Malaysia, who took the bronze in 54.26 in the 2015 SEA Games.
This had Richardson finishing overall third.
Norwegian runner Amalie Iuel, her teammate at the University of Southern California, won the gold by over two seconds with a personal best of 51.81 seconds, and is considered national record for Norway.
Two years ago, Richardson had a time of 56.63 in the same event.
She is the defending champion in the 100-meter dash of the SEA Games, and the silver medalist in the 200-meters.
Her coach Carol Gilbert, who is also the school’s program head, said the extra speed and endurance will help Richardson become much faster towards the end of the season.
Richardson is expected to be in the high 52 by the time she sees action in the SEA Games.
Zion Corrales holds the national record at 55.18 seconds.