Sneaky Warriors brace for Milo tilt coronation

Kit Vincent Pelletero of Negros Oriental High School wins the gold in secondary boys long jump in the 2014 Milo Little Olympics Visayas Eliminations at the Cebu City Sports Center. The medal-rich track and field event concludes today. (CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA)

Just when everyone seemed to be looking somewhere else, the University of San Carlos-Basic Education Dept. (USC-BED) launched a sneaky attack on its rivals, scoring crucial victories on some non-weekend events, to stay on course for another  sweep of the secondary and elementary overall titles in the 19th Milo Little Olympics Visayas Regional Finals.

And the muted celebration was betrayed when the Warriors volunteered to host the closing ceremonies tomorrow at their North Campus along Mango Avenue.

USC-BED is leading the secondary tally with 130.25 points while its elementary squadron is pacing its division with 108.3 points.

Football, athletics, scrabble, chess and lawn tennis are the only events left to be completed.

USC-BED scored a sweep of the basketball titles last Tuesday as well as the badminton plums last Wednesday to  add fuel to its fierydrive  for the crown.
However, 17-time secondary champion University of Cebu can still spoil the Warriors’ bid for a double party.

The Webmasters are within striking range with 97.25 points with their powerhouse tracksters, chessers and netters going all out to produce much needed gold medals today in the hope of stopping the Warriors’ coronation.

University of the Visayas (UV) Main Campus is running third in the secondary tally  with 52 points.

Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu (SHS-AdC) is a distant second in the race for elementary supremacy with 66.25 points followed by Subangdaku Elem. School of Mandaue City with 66 points.
Meanwhile, Visayas delegation head and meet organizer Ricky Ballesteros, believes USC-BED is on the threshold of another double championship but said the Webmasters could still spring a surprise.

“For UC to overtake USC-BED, the Webmasters must top all their remaining events tomorrow (today) although such a scenario looks almost impossible since USC-BED is also a finalist in the remaining events,” Ballesteros told CDN.

STRONGER BISDAKS

Ballesteros also said that he expects a much stronger Bisdaks squad in the Milo National Finals this October following the downfall of the favored teams in several disciplines.

One is the unexpected win of Danao City’s Beatriz Durano Memorial National High School over UC in secondary table tennis. This was followed by the stunning loss of the Cebu City Central School table paddlers to Severo Duterte ES in the elementary finals.

Volleyball also witnessed the fall of the sport’s titans when Subangdaku ES beat Milo Little Olympics National Finals five-time champion Catmon Central School in the girls elementary division while San Jose-Recoletos shocked Pajo National High School in secondary girls.

Secondary boys volleyball also produced an unlikely champion after Mandaue City Comprehensive Nat’l High School routed the University of Southern Philippines Foundation.

“I was very surprised and at the same time amazed at how these teams progressed in their respective sport. I think their LGU’s are doing their part in developing the events that they excel in. It’s a good sign because they will surely bolster Team Visayas’s bid to reclaim the overall crown in the National Finals slated this October in Marikina.”

The National Capital Region (NCR) is gunning for its third straight overall title this year which will allow the Big City athletes to claim the Milo Perpetual Trophy, awarded to the team with three consecutive national championships.