UC’s Josie Inomedo, who is on her final year as a secondary division trackster, shows the two gold medals that she won in the athletics event of the ongoing Cebu City Olympics.
CDN PHOTO/GLENDALE G. ROSAL
Crossing the finish line always brings a happy smile to the face of 17-year-old Josie Inomedo of the University of Cebu (UC) Webmasters.
This year, however, the smile is bittersweet as crossing the finish line means Inomedo is saying goodbye to her high school athletic career as she competes in her last secondary division athletics events in the ongoing 2018 Cebu City Olympics held mostly at the Cebu City Sports Center.
Thus, the UC ace trackster made sure that her last run in the Cebu City Olympics will be very memorable by clinching two gold medals and a silver to help UC take the temporary lead in the medal tally of the secondary athletics with six gilts as of yesterday.
“I will miss a lot, especially my friends, my coaches, and the memories that we had over the years,” said Inomedo, who’s been competing in the Cebu City Olympics since she was in fifth grade.
The only child of a security guard and a housewife, Inomedo dominated her forte events — the 400-meter hurdles and the 200-m run yesterday.
The Barangay Basak San Nicolas native, crossed the finish line in the girls secondary 400-m hurdles at one minute and 8.75 seconds (0:01:08.75) beating runners of University of San Carlos-Basic Education (USC-BED), Sheina Kate Response (0:01:11.01) and Louraine Yvonne Garcia (0:01:14.38), who settled for second and third, respectively.
In the secondary girls 200-m run, Inomedo clocked 0:27:37 to beat her teammate, Llera Pino (0:28:04), and USC-BED’s Gleizel Faith Pelayre (0:28:09).
Athletics is not Inomedo’s first sport.
She was a former badminton player but it did not work out after she lost in the Central Visayas Regional Athletic Association (Cviraa) Meet when she was in fourth grade.
In fifth grade, she decided to shift to athletics and promptly fell in love with the sport.
“I was a former badminton player but I did not play very well. I stopped competing but eventually I got really bored in the house and my mom always tasked me to do house chores so I decided to try athletics, and I instantly fell in love with it,” added Inomedo.
From the time she switched sports, the 11th grader has not only represented Cebu City in the Cviraa Meet for five years, but has also gone on to represent Central Visayas in the Palarong Pambansa for three straight years.
“I always place second in Cviraa behind Boholana athletes but the selection to represent Region VII includes the silver medalist that’s why I played in Palaro for three years,” added Inomedo, whose best finish in the Palaro is fourth in the 400-m hurdles this year in Vigan City, Ilocos Sur.
VALUES LEARNED
More than the gold medals that she won in the Cebu City Olympics and representing Cebu City in the Cviraa and Region VII in the Palaro, Inomedo treasures the values that she learned through her sporting experiences.
“Traveling to another place is very enjoyable, I meet new friends. I will surely miss our bonding but nothing compares to the values that I learned as a high school athlete because this molded (me) to who I am today,” said Inomedo.
She added that her experiences taught her discipline and being independent.
She also added that during competitions, she learned that complacency will only lead to disappointment.
“I was always complacent that’s why I always lose, that was the hardest lesson I’ve learned but I will apply it to my personal life. I have to think always that I should never be complacent and I must always give my best every time,” she said.
UNCERTAINTY
Inomedo said that she will enjoy every second of her last year as a high school athlete because she is not sure of pursuing it once she turns college.
This, because she also wants to finish her academic responsibilities as this is what her parents wished her to achieve.
“I want to finish my studies and maybe I can decide later if I want to continue being an athlete because that’s what my parents want me to achieve,” added Inomedo.
Inomedo is set to compete in the 400-m run and the 4×400-m relay today with the hopes of finishing her campaign in the Cebu City Olympics with four gold medals.
As for Cviraa and Palarong Pambansa, Inomedo is also optimistic of winning that elusive gold medal to finish her high school athletic career with an exclamation point.
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