Thursday, January 10, 2008 Seag medalist visits alma mater, CCSC
IF THERE is something Southeast Asian Games gold medalist Julius Nierras is thankful for, it is the support given to him by the University of Cebu.
Nierras won his first Sea Games medal last month in Thailand in his second outing in the biennial meet when he topped in the 400 meter dash.
“Being trained in UC during my collegiate year had been a great help for me to be able to get to this point,” said Nierras, who will arrive in Cebu this morning and is set to accept a plaque of recognition from UC owner Augusto Go.
“I really appreciate this because even if I am no longer a student, they still recognized my achievement,” Nierras said.
Although Nierras had always been an athlete, it was in UC where his skills were harnessed further.
“They gave me the proper training. And it was because of UC that I was given international exposure which helped me a lot,” he added.
Nierras competed twice in the Arafura Games in Darwin, Australia and regularly represented Cebu in national track meets.
Scholarship
Training and exposure were not the only things he is appreciative of. “I’ve studied for free in UC. I was able to get my education there and that is another thing to be thankful for,” he said.
Nierras started burning rubber at the tracks when he was just in grade school, taking from his father who was also an athlete.
The track star from Biliran had gone to college in 1996, where during the intramurals, he was discovered to be someone of potential. And the coaches of UC turned out to be right.
Nierras went on to exceed expectations. After playing for the army, Nierras made it to the national team on Oct.1, 2003. He poured out all efforts to undergo training for the 400 meter dash and 4x100 meter relay. It took him a few years to finally win a gold. In his first try at the Seag in 2005, he failed to pluck a gold and made up for it in the 2007 Sea Games.
Nierras also said his Sea Game exploit was the reward of his laborious training.
“I was very happy because finally, my rigid training bore fruit,” said the 28 year old Nierras who trains at altitude in Baguio City.
When preparing for competitions, Nierras and his teammates with the RP team have two sessions of back-breaking training.
In this transition period, Nierras was at his hometown in Biliran for a much-needed respite and will arrive this morning in Cebu. He will be reminiscing old times when he visits the Cebu City Sports Center, his home base for six years.
He will be in Cebu until Saturday when he returns to Manila to once more plunge into the back breaking training.
Up next for Nierras will be the Olympic qualifying anytime this year and he is hoping to make it to the Beijing Olympics. (MCB)
