While perennial champion Davao City retained its overall title with 158 gold medals, 115 silvers, and 112 bronzes at the close of the Davao Region Athletic Association (Davraa) Meet 2024 at the Davao City-University of the Philippines (DC-UP) Sports Complex at UP Mindanao on Sunday afternoon, April 7, it fell short of its impressive 2023 performance.
Last year, the Davao City Durians amassed 174 golds, 109 silvers, and 82 bronzes when the regional qualifying meet was hosted by Davao del Norte.
During the send-off rites on March 27, Department of Education (DepEd) Davao City superintendent Reynante Solitario encouraged the city delegates to surpass the medal haul from 2023, sharing his dream of winning 204 golds with SunStar Davao in a previous interview.
Despite not meeting this ambitious target, Solitario congratulated the city's athletes and coaches for emerging as overall champions once again.
In a Facebook interview with SunStar Davao on Sunday morning, April 7, he attributed the delegation's success not only to the athletes' skills but also to the support of their coaches, teammates, family, friends, and management.
He thanked the City Government of Davao, especially Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte and all members of the City Council, as well as Mikey Aportadera, officer-in-charge of the Sports Development Division of the City Mayor's Office (Sdd-CMO), for inspiring and supporting the team.
Davao del Norte delivered the biggest surprise this year with a medal count of 61-50-70 from last year's 36-35-59 record and retaining its third ranking.
Panabo City (22-31-36) climbed to fourth place from fifth last year, overtaking Digos City (16-34-37), which settled for the fifth spot. Digos was fourth in 2023 with a 21-26-25 haul compared to Panabo's 20-40-51.
Davao de Oro (15-30-50), Mati City (11-15-16), Davao del Sur (10-21-36), Island Garden City of Samal (8-7-8), Davao Occidental (7-9-19), and Davao Oriental (5-9-29) claimed the sixth to 11th places.
Mati City moved up a seventh place from ninth last year, while Igacos climbed to ninth from 10th.
Davao del Sur dropped to eighth from seventh, while Davao Occidental was relegated to 10th from eighth.
He noted that all delegations expected dancesports to be included in the Davraa Meet 2024 as it has become a regular sport in Cebu Palaro after years as a demonstration sport. "We were surprised that it's not counted in Davraa as there is no official memo from DepEd Central Office, it is still a board resolution. We have a solid 12 golds for dancesports. Hope there would be a retroactive computation once the memo comes out," he added.
SunStar Davao’s Davraa Meet 2024 special coverage is presented by Mati City Mayor Michelle Nakpil Rabat, Santos Land Development Corporation, Mapua Malayan Colleges Mindanao, Davao de Oro First District Rep. Maricar Zamora, and NCCC Supermarket. MLSA