Header Ads Widget

More records falling in Vigan, Stalwarts now light years away from competition


By Mark Manez


BANTAY, Ilocos Sur - More Palaro records fall in the water and on track after three days of action at the ongoing 2018 Palarong Pambansa at the Quirino Stadium, Wednesday morning.


Reigning Palaro kingpins National Capital Region continued their patented medal haul avalanche as they shattered six finals events at the Quirino Aquatic Center.

Thanya Angelyn Dela Cruz lead NCR's rampage in the pool with a new Palaro standard in the Secondary Girls 200-meter breaststroke.

She touched the pool end at 2:46.62, breaking compatriot Bela Louise Magtibay's 2:47.48 set last year in Antique.

Magtibay, meanwhile, completed the 1-2 finish for the Stalwarts as she timed in at 2:46.82. Calabarzon's Roz Claraine Encarnacion took bronze with a time of 2:48.39.

Dela Cruz joined forces with Samantha Coronel, Camille Buico and Zoe Hilario in swimming away the gold in the secondary girls 400-meter medley.

The quadro finished the race with a time of 4:32.68, breaking last year's 4:35.09 standing record.

Philip Joaquin Santos also hammered down Carlo Piccio's 20-year-old record time of 2:13.28 with his own 2:13.05 finish to take gold in the secondary boys 200-meter individual medley.

Compatriot Christian Sy took silver in the same event, completing another 1-2 finish for the Stalwarts. Ethan Roy Go of Calabarzon capped the podium taking bronze.

Cagayan Valley's Jalil Sephraim Taguinod shattered the 12-year-old Palaro record held by Davao Region's Joshua Acain in the 50-meter backstroke elementary boys.

He clocked in at 32.31 seconds in the preliminaries, breaking Acain's 33.32 set in Naga City.

Francisco Cordero III of SOCCSKSARGEN took home silver with the time of 34.03 seconds.

Shawn Joseph Castro of Central Luzon clocked in at 35.10 seconds, good enough for bronze.

As of 9:57 a.m., NCR still leads over everybody with their mammoth 38 gold, 27 silver and 15 bronze medal collection.

Far behind them are Western Visayas with 23-18-30 and Calabarzon taking home 18-19-32, placing them at second and third spots respectively.

CAR sits at fourth with their 15-10-9 haul. SOCCSKSARGEN further fell to fifth with their 14 gold, the same number of silvers and 16 bronze medals.

Over at the Quirino track oval, Palaro powerhouses NCR, Calabarzon and Western Visayas ripped records and opponents in the Athletics event.

Veruel Verdadero of Calabarzon rewrote the Palaro record in the secondary boys 100-meter run, surpassing SOCCSKSARGEN's Feberoy Kasi's 10.74 seconds set in Legazpi City in 2016.

He clocked in at 10.55 seconds with Western Visayas' Vince Jayson Buhayan and David Jerome Granadozo of Cagayan Valley pursuing him to the end line.

Buhayan and Granadozo timed in at 10.88 and 11.05 seconds, enough tor silver and bronze medals respectively.

Franz Gela Bintad (Western Visayas) and Ainah Mariel Masangkay (NCR) also reset the existing Palaro record in the secondary girls discus throw event.

They both eclipsed Maika de Oro's 36-meter record set during the 2010 Tarlac Games.

Bintad took gold with the distance of 36.28 meters while Masangkay settled for silver with a 36.11-meter throw.

Cleofe Bagato of CAR completed the podium with her 33.55 meter throw for bronze.

NCR and SOCCSKSARGEN shared honors at the table tennis mixed doubles over at the Philippine Science High School Gym in San Ildefonso.

Liezl Joy Cañada and Reynaldo Templado Jr. trampled Zamboanga Peninsula's Leslie Cambonga and Dane Dunstan Piala in the Secondary finals.

Davao's Kyla Cielo Bernaldez and Yves Jan Olin Buhat shared bronze with Calabarzon's Aisiah Garcia and Lordalyn Lanuza to complete the podium.

Ray Joshua Lawrence Manlapaz and Kheith Rhynne Cruz added another gold for the Stalwarts with a masterclass performance over the hosts' Dennis Paul Sagun and J-an Sanchez in the gold medal showdown.

Central Visayas and Calabarzon meanwhile shared bronze with tandems Jebb Jerwin Datahan/Sheramie Damuag and Jean Margarette Valenzuela/Gabriel Ravanzo  completing the podium finishers.

Western Visayas pool sharks Abad Supeña and Hannah Erica Magluyan snookered their way to sweep the gold medals at stake in the Secondary 8-Ball Billiards event over at Lyric Billiard Hall and Cinema.

Supeña upended Mimaropa's Roy Blancaflor while Magluyan made short work of SOCCSKSARGEN's Scyntyl Rose Brillantes to complete the golden double.

Calabarzon's Aeron Ace Arguidas and Central Luzon's Kathrine Fely Bernal completed the podium by winning the bronze in their respective events.

Completing the medal tally are Central Visayas (10-7-9), Northern Mindanao (8-8-8), Central Luzon (8-5-9), Cagayan Valley (7-5-9), Bicol (5-10-15), hosts Ilocos Region (4-7-10), Caraga (4-2-5), Davao (3-12-9), Mimaropa (2-8-4) and Eastern Visayas (2-3-4).

Zamboanga Peninsula and Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao have yet to win their first gold medals, although both have 5 silver-4 bronze and 1 bronze medal respectively.

Follow him on Twitter: @MAManez_DPH16