Sunday, September 07, 2008 Favorite flexes might By Marian C. Baring Sun.Star Staff Reporter
THE University of Cebu is well on its track for an unprecedented 13th straight title in the Milo Little Olympics as it zoomed to the top of the secondary division ranking after Day 1 of competitions yesterday at the Cebu City Sports Center.
UC won five gold medals at the tracks yesterday courtesy of its Palarong Pambansa campaigners.
Karl Jeanette Malazarte won the 1,500 meter run finishing with a time of four minutes, 30.41 seconds. He was 13 seconds over Ervin Barbon of Pit-os National High School.
Vlessica Jagna took the 1,500 title with a time of 5:19.22. Abellana National School’s Haziel Relavale placed second. Sarah Mae Napoles added the other gold medal for UC winning the secondary girls high jump event.
UC also dominated the shot put event with Jasper Basister and Leslie Abad winning the gold medals in the boys and girls divisions.
Another team making its presence felt on the first day of competitions was Sacred Heart School Jesuits, which took the Day 1 lead in the elementary division behind the heroics of its track and field athletes.
SHS-J opened its bid with three gold medals and a silver medal to jumpstart its bid for the overall title, which they failed to do last year.
SHSJ’s high jumpers led the way for the team as they pulled off a twinkill in this event.
1-2 finish
Gerard Geronimo won the boys division of the high jump event, clearing 1.18 meters to beat CIT’s Paul Joshua Veloso’s 1.16.
SHSJ pulled off a 1-2 finish in the girls division with Brittina Cañete taking the gold medal after outclassing teammate Amber Monzon, who won the team’s lone silver yesterday.
“I am proud that my athletes were responsible for SHSJ to lead even on just the first day,” said head coach Presing Capampangan, who admitted that he had to make do with makeshift tracks to train the players.
His athletes are not recruited from anywhere but are just his students in his PE classes whom he found to hold potential in the sport.
In another surprising turn of events, the Cebu City Central School, which used to be a powerhouse in athletics turned in zero medals on the first day.
“I was surprised. I guess it is because City Central only did light training,” organizer Ricky Ballesteros said.
Meanwhile, St. Theresa’s College pulled off the day’s biggest win in football as the girls team clobbered the Colegio Inmaculada Concepcion, 11-0.
Aleli Mejias led the rampage with seven goals, Lucille Parilla had three, while Regine Marie Flores scored one.
STC, a first-timer in Milo, had to overcome several obstacles to be able to compete in Milo. The team coming from an all-girls school needed to plead their administration just to be allowed to join.
Apart from football, STC is defending its crown in the elementary volleyball.
It also has players in badminton and swimming, whose players mostly develop their skills in sports programs outside their school, unlike other schools, which has in-house sports programs.
“I hope the STC volleyball team continues to dominate because it would be great to see the team in the nationals next year,” said Ballesteros, who added that the STC volleyball team, who are mostly Grade 5 students, are a joy to see as they play for fun. “You never see them blame each other if they make mistakes. They just smile and go on with the game. That lifts the tension off that is why they win,” said Ballesteros.
