CAPAS, Tarlac — Making a strong case for being included in the national athletic pool, University of the Philippines' Juliana Talaro clocked a personal best in retaining the women's 10,000-meter walk early Thursday morning for the third straight time in the ICTSI Philippine Athletics Championships at the New Clark City Athletic Stadium here.
After a nip-and-tuck daybreak duel with UST's Azeneth Serat, Talaro finally broke away in the last 200 meters to win her pet event by a mile in a time of 55 minutes and 57.21 seconds to the latter's 56:51.95 in the athletic showcase organized by the Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association.
University of the East's Sep Placido (57:59.90) rounded out the podium finishers in the first event of the trackfest backed by the ICTSI Foundation, Inc., CEL Logistics, United Auctioneers Inc., Milo Philippines, and Pocari Sweat.
In a battle between friends, Muntinlupa's Wenniel Simba wrested the men's Under-18 5,000-meter walk title from teammate Rain Mabeling, checking in with a time of 27.27.04 to the latter's 27:29.95 in the meet also supported by the Philippine Sports Commission, Clark Water, and Masiv Sports.
Binan's Jaycee Reyes (27:52.94) wound up a distant third in the meet, serving as one of the qualifiers for both the country's representatives in the 33rd Thailand Southeast Asian Games in December and the Asian Youth Games in Manama, Bahrain in October.
As expected, Paris Olympian Lauren Hoffman and former Asian champion Robyn Brown topped their respective heats in the afternoon, setting up a highly-anticipated showdown for the women's 400-meter hurdles crown later in the night of the competition, also backed by the Bases Conversion Development Authority-New Clark City.
"Sabi ko po kapag humiwalay ako, kailangan akong dumikit pa rin para hindi siya makalayo (I said that if I separate, I still need to stay close to Serat so that he doesn't get too far)," Talaro, a graduating BS Physical Education student at UP Diliman, said of her close contest with Serat for top honors.
"Nakakuha ako ng second wind ko sa last five laps (I got my second wind in the last five laps)," added the athlete, who first won the event in 2023 when the National Open, as the meet is popularly known, was held in Ilagan, Isabela. "Hopefully, makasama na po ako sa national pool."
Serat, who had taken the early lead and was still leading until fading in the backstretch, said the early morning heat had taken its toll, and he could not keep up with Talaro's relentless pace once she started to pull away.
"Napagod na po ako dahil sa sobrang init. Hindi po ako masyadong sanay. Nagkulang po ako ng endurance (I got tired because of the intense heat. I'm not really used to it. I lacked endurance)," said the UST sophomore PE student.
"Okay lang na ibigay ko ang korona kay Wenniel since magkaibigan naman kami (It's okay for me to give the crown to Wenniel since we're friends anyway)," said Mabeling, 17, who won the event in the 2024 edition held at the Philsports track oval in Pasig City.
Among those scheduled to see action on Friday are two-time men's Southeast Asian Games shot put champion Willie Morrison and Fil-Am pole vaulter Elijah Cole.
Caption: UP's Juliana Talaro (left) is poised to break away from UST's Azeneth Serat on the way to ruling the women's 10-kilometer walkathon for the third straight time yesterday in the ICTSI Philippine Athletic Championships at the New Clark City Athletic Stadium in Capas, Tarlac. PR