German Dave Marcelo (right) of Davao Region leads the pack in the secondary boys steeple chase event in the 2017 Palarong Pambansa in Antique. Marcelo captured the gold medal. (CDN PHOTO/TONEE DESPOJO)
San Jose, Antique— Is the Central Visayas Regional Athletic Association (Cviraa) headed to one of its worst finishes in the Palarong Pambansa?
Cviraa found itself in a precarious situation as it is stumbling to the finish line in the 60th edition of the annual multi-sporting event, which enters its penultimate stage today.
Cviraa is facing the specter of failing to meet its lofty goal of securing the second spot in the overall rankings and may not even retain its fourth-place finish last year as it ended yesterday’s action at seventh place with a harvest of 12 gold medals, eight silvers, and 15 bronzes.
Many-time defending champion National Capital Region (NCR) continued to lead by a mile, sitting on top of the rankings with 60 golds, 37 silvers and 26 bronzes.
Region 6 was at second spot with 23 golds, 13 silvers and 24 bronzes, followed by Region 12, which collected 17 golds, 19 silvers and 21 bronzes.
At fourth spot was Region 4-A with a tally of 16-34-35. The Negros Island Region (NIR) was at fifth spot with 16 golds, 15 silvers and 18 bronzes. The Cordillera Autonomous Region (CAR) took the sixth spot with 16 golds, 10 silvers and 11 bronzes.
Edgie Garbin (right) of Bicol wins the gold in secondary boys 110m hurdles. (CDN PHOTO/TONEE DESPOJO)
Failure to make a major turnaround in the final two days of competition will send Cviraa to its worst finish in recent memory. The region was a consistent fourth place finisher before crashing to sixth spot in the 2015 Palaro in Tagum City.
Cviraa quickly bounced back last year when it finished fourth anew in Legazpi City, Albay.
Not enough
Cviraa failed to pull itself out of the dreaded seventh spot despite hauling four golds, two silvers and two bronzes yesterday.
Archer Lloyd Apawan secured his second gold in the meet after winning the 60-meter contest.
“It feels great to win. I know the delegation is badly needing medals that’s why I really did my best and stayed focused,” said Apawan, who also ruled the 60m contest.
The Gothong National High School Grade 10 student also has a silver (single Fita) and a bronze (30m) in his bag.
Apawan is making the most of his first and last Palaro.
“I struggled to qualify for the Palaro. That’s why this is very special to come up with this kind of performance after failing to land a spot in Region 7 in the past,” he said.
Johann Mathew Tubesa celebrates after anchoring Region 7’s boys 4×50 meter relay team to the gold.
(CDN PHOTO/TONEE DESPOJO)
First big catch at the pool
Region 7 finally got going at the pool after Rian Marco Tirol, Christante Veloso, Fredrick Albert Chiongbian and Johann Matthew Tubesa topped the 4x50m freestyle relay for Cviraa’s first gold medal in swimming.
“This is going to be our last Palaro and we’re so thankful that we were able to finally win a gold,” said Veloso.
“We just trusted each other, we got strong opponents. The feeling is just overwhelming that we were able to give honor to Region 7,” said Chiongbian.
Also helping Cviraa’s cause was Regina Catherine Quinanola, who ruled the elementary girls’ individual standard chess. She then teamed up with Alphecca in winning the gold in the team event.
Apart from Apawan’s silver finish in the single Fita yesterday, Region 7 also got a silver from Zachary Lou Lacea in the table tennis elementary boys singles.
Henze Dominique Lucero pitched in bronze in the table tennis secondary boys’ singles.
Vylette Kaye Alvez delivered bronze for the Bisdaks in the elementary girls’ 100m hurdles, while boxer John Niño Vega also pocketed bronze in the 46-kilogram category.