PUERTO PRINCESA CITY?National Capital Region athletes again struck hard in athletics and swimming while keeping its championship aspirations in other fronts afloat Thursday in the 2008 Palarong Pambansa here.

Isidro Del Prado Jr. and Jose Renato Unso, sons of former national athletics team luminaries, handily won their respective events again for NCR even as Western Visayas slowed down with a solitary gold through barefoot runner Vienna Mae Banebane.

The 16-year-old Del Prado exploded in the final 100 meters to rule the secondary boys' 400 meters in 49.7 seconds after dominating the 800m the other day.

The son of former Gintong Alay ace Isidro Sr. will get a chance to make it three golds in a row in the 200m on Friday before taking a chance at more golds as anchor for NCR in the 4x100 and 4x400 relays.

"My father always tells me to reserve my energy and pour it all when I reach the halfway mark of the race," said Del Prado, who is considering collegiate scholarship offers from De La Salle University and University of the Philippines.

Unso also made his father Renato proud by capturing the 110m hurdles in the secondary boys' division in 15.7 seconds.

"I always want to be a national player just like my father," said the 17-year-old Unso, who prevailed in the 400m hurdles Wednesday. "As a second-generation athlete, I feel that we should keep the sport alive."

Banebane also nailed a second gold by clinching the secondary girls' 400m in 59.5 seconds.

Meanwhile, NCR tankers Dorothy Hong and Fahad Alkhaldi picked up their fourth gold medal each by winning the secondary girls' 200m backstroke (2:30.85) and elementary boys' 50m backstroke (32.23), respectively.

Hong, 14, an incoming third-year high school student from the Philippine Christian School of Tomorrow, also collared gold medals in the 200m medley relay, 4x50m relay and 400m medley relay while Alkhaldi earlier won the 200m free and 100m back before joining the winning 400m medley relay squad.

But Bicol boasted of the winningest swimmer, however, as John Bryl Zapanta won the secondary boys' 100m butterfly in 59.88 seconds and then teamed up with Wilfredo Sunglao, Mike Berces and Juan Pantila in topping 4x50m relay in a record time of 1:44.28.

The 15-year-old Zapanta, who hails from Pili, Camarines Sur, had earlier prevailed in the 100m free, 200m free and 200m fly.

New records were also set by the NCR in two relay events.

Roxanne Florence Yu, Carmina Quilala, Patricia Yam and Winona Yu clocked a record 1:57.05 in the secondary girls' 4x50m free relay while Joseph Ventinilla, Juan Carlo Reyes, Jovic Ventenilla and Kevin Claveria set a new mark of 1:56.08 in the elementary boys' 4x50m free relay.

After three days of pool action, NCR showed the way in three divisions with Calabarzon preventing a sweep as it kept the lead in the elementary girls division, thanks to Ana Nicole Tan and Althea Aira Belen, winners of the 50m back and 100m fly, respectively.

A team title in swimming is equivalent to 30 points in the overall tally.

NCR, which secured six of the 12 golds at stake in swimming Thursday, also won its matches in baseball, men's artistic gymnastics, basketball and volleyball.

NCR clinched the team gold in gymnastics with 78.65 points and won its third straight baseball game after whipping Western Visayas, 6-1.

In basketball, the Big City bets registered a fourth win via a 91-54 shellacking of Cagayan Valley while the team's volleybelles made it three in a row with a 25-12, 25-13 victory over Bicol.

In boxing, Gerson Nietes of Western Visayas subdued Davao's Glenn Canteveros to seal the pinweight gold while Jerwin Ancajas of Davao trounced Zamboanga's Nicko Tayo for the light flyweight title.