WITH the opening of the Milo Little Olympics set on Friday, September 7, lowland athletes arrived as early as Monday to acclimatize with Baguio’s weather.
Milo coordinator Tess Bernardino said close to 3,000 athletes including coaches and chaperones will be in the Summer Capital for the North and Central Luzon leg of the three-day competition for elementary and junior high school students.
The annual youth sports competition aims to emphasize Milo’s unwavering commitment to the country in developing not only athleticism but also mental discipline among student-athletes who will be the next generation of sports heroes.
“Dahil malamig ang klima dito sa Baguio, marami sa mga athletes and umakyat para makapaghanda,” said Bernardino.
A total of 15 sports will be showcased in the Olympics among them badminton, basketball, chess, football, gymnastics, lawn tennis, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, volleyball, sepak takraw and scrabble.
Arnis and karatedo will be featured as demonstration sports.
Bernardino said more than the competition, the event is also an avenue to discover promising athletes who can be developed and trained for further competition.
“We at Milo, our focus is to help in the grassroots development of sports in the country which we believe can serve as a feeder program to higher sports competition,” she added.
Baguio City High School asserted its might against north and central Luzon’s high school squad by copping its fifth straight crown after amassing 195.5 points topping athletics, gymnastics, and tennis while scoring second place finishes in football women’s artistic gymnastics, and volleyball boys.
University of Baguio came in second with 113 points by bagging the top honors in arnis and taekwondo while bagging second place finishes in boys chess, scrabble, and girls swimming.
Bagging third place is Holy Angel University with 84 points clinching the boys’ table tennis and boys’ tennis while Olongapo City National High School snatched fourth place over with 77 points as Urdaneta City National High School completed the top five with 75 points.
UB also surprised the field in the elementary division as it romped off with the over-all title with 79.5 points by bagging the top spot in girls swimming and table tennis. It also took home second place finish in arnis.
Mabini Elementary School meanwhile improved to a second place over-all finish with 77 points after bagging the crown in basketball, and a second place finish in athletics. (Roderick Osis)