RAFOLS BEFORE MAYON. John Marvin Rafols of Central Visayas shows excellent form on his way to winning the gold in secondary boys triple jump in the ongoing Palarong Pambansa at the Albay Sports and Tourism Complex. It was the Cebuano’s second gold in the games. (CDN PHOTO/TONEE DESPOJO)
Region 7 wins 5 golds, jumps to 4th overall
Legazpi City – With the competition entering the homestretch, the Central Visayas Regional Athletic Association (Cviraa) made a serious push in its quest for redemption by snatching five gold medals yesterday in the 59th Palarong Pambansa here.
The Cviraa tracksters continued to pour it on as they led the region’s most productive day by far after snagging three golds at the Albay Sports and Tourism Complex.
As of 7 p.m., yesterday, Cviraa was in fourth spot with 11 golds, 10 silvers 11 bronzes.
Powerhouse National Capital Region led the pack with a 34-18-14 (g-s-b) tally followed by Region 6 at 17-12-12. Region 4-A was third wth 16 golds, 12 silvers and 18 bronzes.
Trailing Cviraa was Negros Island Region (NIR) with nine golds, 12 silvers and 11 bronzes.
Cviraa is looking to improve its sixth place finish last year and its tracksters are steadily delivering the goods. They have already contributed six golds after winning just three last year.
SECOND FOR RAFOLS
John Marvin Rafols won his second gold, while Samantha Gem Limos and Riza Jane Vallente snatched their first-ever gold in the annual multi-sporting event.
Rafols ruled the secondary boys triple jump with a 14.56-meter leap.
“I had a strong feeling that I was going to win the event. This is my favorite event and I trained hard for this,” said the 17-year-old University of Cebu (UC) student, who also won the long jump gold last Monday.
SPRINT QUEEN. Samantha Gem Limos (center) of Central Visayas breasted the tape ahead of her rivals in the secondary girls 100 meters gold. (CDN PHOTO/TONEE DESPOJO)
Vallente ended her long wait for a Palaro medal after she topped the secondary girls 400-meter hurdles at 1:30.03 .
“This is my first medal after competing for four years in Palaro and I didn’t expect it to be a gold,” said Vallente of the La Union High School in Candijay, Bohol.
Limos, on the other hand, crowned herself the Palaro sprint queen by topping the secondary girls 100-meter dash.
The 13-year-old Limos timed 12.1 seconds, nearly breaking the record of Nancy Navalta, who clocked 11.90 in the 1997 Palaro held in Naga City, Camarines Sur.
“For her age, her time is very impressive. A lot of people are asking if she is really 13 years old because of her time,” said athletics trainer Arvin Loberanis.
Limos of UC, is touted to become one of the country’s top runners after a record-setting performance in last year’s Batang Palaro where she timed 12.48 in the 100m dash.
“I was just thinking that I really had to win since my teammates had already won golds. I just wanted to contribute,” said Limos.
Limos said she passed the entrance exam at Cebu City National Science High School but choose UC because Science High “is more on academics. I chose UC since I wanted to focus more on sports,” she said.
Desireiy Padilla of Central Visayas performs her routine in the balance beam where she won a silver medal in the ongoing Palaro. (CDN PHOTO/TONEE DESPOJO)
GYMNASTS SHINE
Also contributing to Region 7’s cause yesterday was the gymnastics team, which pitched in one gold, four silvers and one bronze.
Neil Francis Palomares won gold in the all-around event of elementary boys cluster one gymnastics. He also had silver finishes in the vault and floor exercise.
Dyan Sophia came up with silvers in the secondary girls beam and floor events, while Desireiy Padilla settled for bronze in the beam.
The elementary girls badminton team of Chelsea Katrina Akiatan, Zinah Marichelle Bejasa, Karyll Rio and Yesa Mae Villahermosa grabbed gold by beating NIRAA, 2-1.
The elementary boys badminton team chipped in silver.
Contributing bronze was the elementary girls 4×100 medley team.
Meanwhile, the secondary football team snatched its third straight victory with an 18-0 bashing of Region 1.
In basketball, the elementary team suffered its first loss in four games after bowing to NCR, 57-70.
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