|
Sunday, September 04, 2005
UC pacers first day
By Jade S. Violeta
Sun.Star Staff Reporter
University of Cebu (UC) is back to its usual dominant form at the start of the 10th Milo Little Olympics as they grabbed hold of the leadership in the Secondary division after yesterday’s opening hostilities at the Cebu City Sports Center.
UC, Cebu City’s athletics powerhouse and eight-time Milo Olympics defending champion, cornered an opening-day total of seven golds, six silvers and six bronze medals from athletics and swimming in the multi-event competition.
In the Elementary division, Sacred Heart School-Jesuit and Gun-ob Elementary School shocked defending champion Mabolo District as the two squads displayed powerful opening-day showings with SHS-J grabbing the temporary lead and Gun-ob taking the second spot after dominating the gymnastics event.
Elementary division defending champion, Mabolo, on the other hand, displayed an uncharacteristically slow start as it only managed a single bronze to tie four others at the cellar of the 16-team elementary war.
Leading the onslaught for UC in the Secondary division athletics were Anselmo Esgana, Marjorie Ann Sy, Stephanie May Sanico and Almira Gay Sadaya, who all took home the gold in their respective competitions. Taking gold medals in the pool for UC were Diane Cañeda, Jeffrey Yana and the 400-meter Medley Relay team, composed of Yana, Michael Vega, Mattheus Galo and Noel Cañeda.
First gold
Esgana doled out UC’s first gold after topping the Boys high jump with a record of 1.75 meters, while Sy ruled the Girls high jump with her record of 1.35m.
Sanico took the Girls shot put gold with a distance of 8.29m, while Sadaya won UC’s final gold of the day at the tracks as she registered the fastest time in the 110m hurdles in 18.11 seconds.
Cañeda, a National campaigner, led UC’s tankers with a gold in the 100m breaststroke with a time of one minute and 32.18 seconds.
Yana left his rivals behind in the Boys 100m breaststroke with his time of 1:18.81. Yana took another gold as he led the Boys 400m Medley Relay team to a No.1 finish with a clocking of 4:59.68.
Gymnastics
The University of the Visayas (UV) demonstrated its might in Men’s Artistic Gymnastics (MAG), snaring three golds, two silvers and four bronze medals to secure the No.2 spot.
Brie Escopete, a gold medalist for the Central Visayas Regional Athletic Association (Cviraa) during the 2005 Iloilo City Palarong Pambansa, led UV’s dominant performance in the MAG as he cornered the gold medal in the floor exercises.
UV’s two other golds were from Carlo Ceniza on the parallel bars and the troika of Ceniza, Escopete and Doness Doñosos in the team competition.
The University of Southern Philippines (USP) pocketed two golds and two silvers in the MAG event and one gold in athletics to stay at the third spot.
USP’s Jhon Rey Cañete grabbed the gold in the MAG event’s individual all-around and vault exercise. Trackster James Daria outdistanced his foes in the shot put with a throw of 8.26m for the gold.
Swimming
Meanwhile, it was the visitors who made the biggest splash at the pool as Dumaguete City and Bohol shattered a total of three Milo Olympics swimming records.
Allan Bayona, who accounted for all of Dumaguete National High School’s opening-day golds, had a record-breaking performance in the Boys Secondary 50m backstroke as he logged in a new meet record of 27.04 seconds to smash the nine-year 27.22 mark set by Cebuano Ruben Suerte in 1996.
The Silliman University Elementary School 200m medley relay team composed of Marc Alabastro, Alcafon Macahig, Keaunn Madalla and Kit Cavales also inked a new mark after clocking in at two minutes and 44.73 seconds to shatter the 2:47.62 record established by SHS-J in 2003.
The Girls Elementary 200m medley relay team of the Holy Name University-Bohol also set a new record as Gebrelle Leyson, Leah Budlayan, Daphnie Asenero and Rachel Budlayan finished the event in 2:54.66 to shatter SHS-Girls’ 2:55.50 record in 1996.
In football, Paref-Springdale and the rest of the favorites advanced to the next round after trouncing separate foes.
Springdale relied on a big final-half burst to beat University of San Carlos (USC), 6-2; SHS-J literally toyed with Talisay City High School, 23-0, scoring its first five goals in the first two minutes; UV-Compostela thrashed the USP, 8-0; and Pope John Seminary beat Cebu Institute of Technology, 6-1.
Camp Lapu-Lapu National High School defeated Colegio de la Inmaculada Concepcion-Mandaue, 3-1.
Chess
In the Elementary level, Bright Academy won over CIC-M, 7-5, City Central School blanked USC, 8-0, Don Bosco College (DBC) defeated Cot-cot Elementary School, 3-0, and SHS-J forfeited its match against Springdale.
In chess, Labangon ES blanked UC and Cebu Normal University to take the top spot with eight points. Godfrey Villamor, Ronald Parba, Jasmine Acman and Katherine Miral hold a one-point lead over Mactan Elves, which is at second with seven points after beating Pardo ES, 3-1, and Cebu Institute of Technology, 4-0.
Balbonas
Defending champion CIC-Mandaue, manned by the Balbona siblings, is third with six points. Marq Gabrielle, Felix and John and Marq Arcano Balbona defeated the St. Thomas squad, 4-0, before settling for a draw with Tagbilaran, 2-2.
Chess’ Most Outstanding Athlete last year, Jessa Marie Balbona, is now with the University of San Jose-Recoletos, which is second in the high school division with 7.5 behind DBTC’s eight. (With ML) |
|
[return to top]
[home]
[network page]
|
LOCAL NEWS
BUSINESS
OPINION
SPORTS
LIFESTYLE
FEATURE
SUPERBALITA
WEEKEND
|
