Art Joy Torregosa (center) wins 2 silver medals and a bronze medal for Team Cebu City while his teammates Dominic Woodard (left) and Jessa Mae Aviso (right) each won a silver medal in the Patafa ICTSI Philippine Athletics Championships in Ilagan City in Isabela. | Contributed photos
CEBU CITY, Philippines —Team Cebu City athletes won five medals in the recently concluded Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association (Patafa) ICTSI Philippine Athletics Championships over the weekend in Ilagan City, Isabela.
This as the Cebu City sent a lean, but determined, contingent, headed by veteran athletics coach Arvin Loberanis, to compete against the country’s best tracksters and numerous foreign competitors in this prestigious competition.
In the end, Cebu City tracksters bagged four silver medals and one bronze.
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Torregosa of Team Cebu City
The bulk of the medal haul was from long-distance runner Art Joy Torregosa went head-to-head against the country’s current fastest female long distance runners. She earned three silver medals in the 5,000m, 10,000m, and 1,500m runs.
She finished the race in the 10,000m run in 40 minutes and 9.20 seconds, while the 31st Southeast Asian Games (SEAG) silver medalist in women’s marathon, Christine Hallasgo of Bukidnon topped the race in 36:38.54.
Rounding off the top three was Ailene Tolentino of the Philippine Army in 40:58.34.
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In the 5,000m run, Hallasgo emerged as the winner by clocking in 17:28.06, while Torregosa finished second in 18:34.10, and April Joy Alampayan of Bohol rounded off the top three in 18:35.47.
In the 1,500m run, Jie Anne Calis of University of Santo Tomas topped the race in 4:54.28, while Torregosa crossed the finish line in 5:00.82. Tolentino grabbed the third spot in 5:12.87.
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Team Cebu City’s Aviso, Woodard
Meanwhile, Jessa Mae Aviso of University of Cebu (UC) Webmasters salvaged a silver medal for Team Cebu City in the women’s high jump. Malaysia’s Yap Sean Yee captured the gold medal.
Aviso and Botolan’s Mariel Abuan both tallied 1.54m jumps for a tie for the silver medal, while Yee recorded 1.70m jump for the gold medal. There was no bronze medalist in the high jump women’s event.
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Lastly, Dominic Johilio Woodard who is now based in Manila as a varsity trackster of the Jose Rizal University contributed a bronze medal for Team Cebu City in the men’s discus throw event.
His best throw was 42.12 meters, while Philippine team member John Albert Manlua ruled the competition with a 48.83m throw. University of the Philippines’ (UP) Ed Delina settled for silver with a 42.41m throw.
For Loberanis, he is satisfied with the team’s performance since their tallied best times and measured distances are qualified in the standards of the national training pool.
All three athletes are products of the Cebu City Sports Commission’s (CCSC) grassroots program in athletics.
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