Sunday, November 18, 2007 UC dominates Day 1 By Marian C. Baring Sun.Star Staff Reporter
WHETHER playing by itself or in a unit, whether manned by varsity or players discovered in intramurals, the University of Cebu continue to make its presence felt in multi-event meets and this holds true in the first day of the 17th Cebu City Olympics yesterday.
UC secondary division athletes steered Unit IX to pace the first day of competitions with 17 golds, seven silvers and three bronzes, while its tertiary division squad zoomed to the top of the standings with 22 gold medals.
Although the Cebu City Olympics uses a point system to determine the champion, it cannot be denied that Unit IX is comfortably at the helm of the secondary division.
As expected, UC dominated the tracks and the pool. But what came out as a surprise for UC was its arnis team. UC tracksters and arnisadors won six golds each, while the tankers collected five.
This is the first time that arnis became a regular event after being a demonstration sport for years.
Over at the tracks, Milo Little Olympics’s most outstanding athlete, Dharl Pitogo, led Unit IX after winning the 110 hurdles. Also winning golds for the unit were Jee Ann Racoma in the girls 110 hurdles, Flores May Fralboa in the girls high jump, Jasper Basister in shotput and Sheena Gacayan in the 1,500 meter run.
At the aquatic center of the Cebu City Sports Center, Noel Cañeda went on a gold medal splurge. Cañeda won three gold medals in the 100m and 200m backstroke and the 200m individual medley, while Paula Vega and Jeffrey Yana added one gold medal each.
Temporarily taking second place in the high school division is Unit X with seven golds, all from the University of the Visayas gymnastics team.
UV’s ace gymnasts, Naomi Soco, led the team’s charge as she won the balance beam, floor exercise, vault and all-around titles of the Women’s Artistic Gymnastics.
Meanwhile, in the collegiate division, UC is hoping to bounce back from a dismal bridesmaid finish last year. As of yesterday, it seemed to be on the right track.
Non-varsity members
In this division, where only non-varsity players are allowed to compete, UC is the early title-favorite, collecting first-place finishes in swimming. The school was especially dominant in arnis, where they were virtually uncontested in winning all six titles at stake for the first day.
Swimming winners for UC were Jesephus Rusiana in the men’s 200m IM, 100m butterfly and 200 m freestyle, and Aimee Sanchez in the girls 200m IM, 200m backstroke and 100m butterfly and Felix Vega in the men’s 100m and 200m backstroke.
In the elementary division, Unit V is currently on top with eight gold medals, courtesy of their swimmers and badminton players. Ray Tungala won three golds in swimming, while Jorgina Cane had one.
Unit X, on the other hand, is at second place with seven golds. Unit X’s bid was kept alive by the gymnastics team of UV. Khrystine Ava Bantugan won four gold medals, while Gerald Baron won two golds.
Meanwhile, in the Miss Cebu City Olympics contest, Lyka Flare Ruela and Giana Mae Balbuena of University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) and SWU’s Karren Lyndi Brown won the elementary, secondary and tertiary titles, respectively.
Other events
In the badminton elementary division boys singles, Allan Joseph Adolfo brought home the gold for Springdale, while Johan Kenneth Satinitigan of Bacayan Elementary School (BES) grabbed the silver medal. Ulyross Lopez of City Central Elementary School (CCES) and John Paul Diamante of University of San Carlos North Campus won the bronze medal.
In the girls singles, Lindsay Salomon of St. Benedict won the gold medal, Meriel Madrid of CCES took the silver and Jan Christlee Cabajar of BES and Ana Katrina Quintos of STC got the bronze.
In the boys doubles, Jaymar Jumawan and Edward Invento of Talamban Elementary School took the gold medal from Jan Millan Roa and Kenneth Paul Almario of USP-F, while Gim Delmequez and Lourd Tan of DVRMES and Patrick Lois Quilaton and Francis Paolo Quilaton of CCES settled for the bronze.
In the girls doubles Christine Bolo and Zepha Marie Caalim of St. Benedict took the gold medal, Jessa Diamante and Joyce Omega of USC-North Campus settled for the silver. Lyanna Kaye Abellana and Sherlyn Alda of Pardo Elementary School and Marashaola Garcia and Christine Apiag of DVRMES got the bronze.
In football elementary division, Don Bosco College (DBC) defeated Bright Academy, 3-0, while Paref Springdale blanked CCES, 4-0.
DBC also scored a rout in the secondary division after blanking Cebu City Science High School, 4-0, while last week, USJ-R defeated Science High, 3-2, and Springdale scored two wins against Bright, 3-0, and Don Bosco, 3-1.
Defending champion Abellana National School scored the day’s biggest win with an 11-0 whitewash of USJ-R.
In Arnis, UC dominated all levels and collected 14 golds, eight silvers and four bronze. The high school and college teams collected six gold medals with 3 silvers and 2 bronzes a piece, while the elementary squad bagged two golds and two silvers.
The Ramon Duterte National Memorial High Scholl (RDNMS) came in second in the high school level with a 2-2-3, while Lahug Elementary School (LES) landed in second place behind UC in the elementary level with two golds and two bronzes.
Camputhaw is at third place, while RDNMS is fourth with a gold and silver.
UC is again expected to add more medals in the open marathon strikers category today as it is the only team in the event.
Tournament director Maximo Cabilles told Sun.Star Cebu yesterday that the top eight of the event will qualify for the Central Visayas Regional Athletic Association but only five of them will be allowed to compete and the remaining three will be part of the training camp.
In scrabble, after four rounds, LES topped the nine other competing schools in their division with 12.5 points followed by USJ-R’s 12 and CCS with nine points. (with EKA and NSM)
