PUERTO PRINCESA CITY – Western Visayas swept the two gold medals in secondary javelin to underscore its vaunted strength in athletics Monday even as the perennial problem of slow and inaccurate transmission of results threatened to ruin the conduct of the Palarong Pambansa here.
Sharmaine Joy Bucaling and Ralph Efream Gesulgon ruled the javelin throw in their respective categories for Western Visayas while Michael Calayo produced an initial victory for Central Luzon in the boys' long jump at the packed Ramon V. Mitra Jr. Sports Complex here.
But mediamen could not get the results of the three other events slated for the day as the Palaro website, where officials said the results can be accessed, yielded only the result of secondary girls' javelin and secondary boys' high jump at press time.
With medal-rich swimming scheduled to get going on Tuesday, sportswriters braced for an even more chaotic gathering and distribution of results.
Bucaling, a carpenter's daughter from Dingle, Iloilo, hurled the javelin to a distance of 33.95 meters on her sixth and final try to overtake Richelda Pepito of Mimaropa (IV-B) for the gold.
Pepito settled for the silver on 32.09m while Bicol's Jancell Candelaria copped the bronze on 31.86m.
The Palaro record was 39.0m set by Melva Quirino of Central Visayas in 1988.
"I was the last to throw the javelin, so I already knew what to do to win," said the 18-year-old Bucaling in Filipino after earning the distinction of becoming the first gold medalist of the week-long, multi-event competition among public school elementary and high school students.
A silver medalist in the same event during the 2006 edition in Naga City, Bucaling gets a chance to increase her golden collection when the Dingle National High School senior competes Tuesday in the shotput and discus throw.
Gesulgon, another Ilongo from Miagaw, prevailed in boys' javelin with a throw of 49.59m that overhauled Cagayan Region's John Paul Chinyana's 48.22m effort. Banjo Samson of Northern Mindanao settled for the bronze (47.47m).
"I got it on my third throw,” said Gesulgon, 15, who improved on a sixth-place finish in the event two years ago in Naga.
The 15-year-old Kirayan National High School freshman, who was way off the Palaro record of Ilocos' Alleloid Lumabao (59m) set in 2002 Naga, will see action in the high jump on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Calayo eclipsed his personal best of 6.60m last year by posting 6.98m in the boys' long jump to beat Calabarzon's (IV-A) Ariel Magayon (6.65m) and Ramjay Carado (6.47m) from Davao region for the gold.
Powerhouse National Capital Region showed its strength in the ball games, opening its title defense in secondary boys' basketball by routing Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, 91-39, even as Davao scored a 79-68 win over Caraga.
Cotabato dumped host Mimaropa, 71-49, in elementary basketball while Northern Mindanao trounced Western Visayas, 63-52, in the other game.
NCR also flexed its muscle in secondary softball and boys' volleyball. The Big City bets thumped Cagayan Valley, 13-2, in softball and escaped with a 25-23, 25-22 victory over Western Visayas in volleyball.
Mimaropa ripped Caraga, 13-1, in elementary softball while Cordillera downed Mimaropa, 25-15, 24-26, 25-16, in secondary volleyball for boys.
In elementary badminton singles, Ralph Bonsukan of Central Visayas and Mimaropa's Jon Jelson Masongsong won their opening matches in the boys' division while Calabarzon's Francesca Antonette Alcasid triumphed in the distaff side along with Charity Faith Bacarro of Northern Mindanano.
Calabarzon blanked ARMM, 10-0, in high school baseball and Northern Mindanao whipped Ilocos, 11-0, in elementary football.
Media liaison officer Allen Del Carmen said he was informed by Feliciano Toledo II, national coordinator of DepEd's Task Force on School Sports, that all results would go directly to the results transmission center on the second floor of the Puerto Princesa Coliseum.
Del Carmen said the only way for the media to secure the results was to access the website, which proved of little help.
