Roulla Lupo of Lapu-Lapu City competes in the 100-meter hurdles trials of the Cviraa meet at the Teodoro Mendiola Sr. oval in the City of Naga.
CDN PHOTO/TONEE DESPOJO
Tracksters from Bohol win three gold medals on first day
City of Naga — Tracksters from the province of Bohol dominated the opening day of athletics in the Central Visayas Regional Athletic Association (Cviraa) meet here.
The visiting athletes were red-hot on the Teodoro Mendiola Sr. track oval and accounted for three gold medals for the Bohol team yesterday.
Highlighting Bohol’s gold-medal haul was the performance of 16-year-old Ericka Mae Tagoco of the Bohol Institute of Technology – Tagbilaran Campus (BIT-TC).
The Boholana jumper set a personal best of 5.25-meters in the secondary girls long jump to win the gold. She was very emotional after her victory.
“I did not expect to win because my fellow competitors were very tough to beat,” Tagoco, whose previous personal best was 4.99 meters, said. “I became very emotional because one of my teammates, Riza Jane Dupalco, got injured and cost her a chance to win a medal. I want to dedicate this gold medal to her and to the team.”
Second and third placers were Mandaue City’s Pearl Angeline Abellar (5.18 meters) and Cebu City’s Jhuvan Jean Baculot (5.15 meters), respectively.
Tagoco already won two gold medals in last year’s edition of the Cviraa and was able to compete in the Palarong Pambansa in Legazpi City, Albay.
She said she put in a lot of work after the Palarong Pambansa to prepare for this meet.
“I made a lot of sacrifices. That’s why I was very emotional when I won,” said Tagoco, who has two more events to compete in today — the 100m run and the triple jump.
Bohol’s Eduard Nilmida is on his knees after winning the first gold in athletics. CDN PHOTO/TONEE DESPOJO
The first gold medal in the opening day of athletics was won by Bohol province’s Eduard Nilmida Jr.
Nilmida ruled the 3,000m steeple chase in 11 minutes and 0.31 seconds.
Carlo Ilustrisimo of Cebu province (11:05.62) and Joebert Bolo of Toledo City (11:12.10) finished second and third, respectively.
The third Boholano gold medalist was Mark Vincent Pejana, who topped the elementary boys’ shot put event.
Pejana heaved the iron ball to 8.97m to beat fellow Boholano Christopher Banas, who settled for the silver medal. Cebu province’s John Fyl Romaguera got the bronze.
Ericka Mae Tagoco of Bohol is comforted by her mother after her emotional win in secondary girls’ long jump.
CDN PHOTO/TONEE DESPOJO
Cebu City still on top
Despite the impressive performance of the Boholanos and being limited to a solitary gold yesterday, the 24-time defending champions Cebu City Niños are still way ahead in the overall medal tally.
The Niños have a haul of 35-19-15 (gold-silver-bronze) while Lapu-Lapu City is at second place with a tally of 6-17-16. Bohol province is currently at third with a 4-4-9 mark.
The Niños only won a single gold medal yesterday courtesy of John Marvin Rafols, who topped the secondary boys’ long jump with a 6.68m distance.
Other gold medalists in yesterday’s athletics event were Cebu province’s Eljade Pepito (secondary boys shot put), Chanesse Ann Abao of Bogo City (secondary girls shot put) and Danao City’s Mary Ann Bahay (elementary girls’ shot put).
Meanwhile, the medal-rich swimming event will start today at the City of Naga’s Olympic-sized pool.