INQUIRER Sports

MANILA, Philippines - A pair of teenagers shared the spotlight with a veteran Japanese runner and a member of the Philippine Dragon Boat team Sunday in the 2009 Vitwater Animo Sprint Triathlon at the Ayala Alabang Village in Muntinlupa.

Hiroshi Takei and 16-year-old Johanna Pe Benito topped the 950m swim-30K bike-6.9K run sprint triathlon.

Nikko Bryan Huelgas, 18, and paddler Maridel Manaban, on the other hand, ruled the 350m swim-11K bike-3.2K run mini sprint division.

Takei, 37, clocked 1:39.01, while La Salle Zobel?s Pe Benito, recent winner of the Subic International Triathlon junior sprint contest, timed 1:58.30.

Huelgas won in 41:03 to share the top podium with female winner Manaban, the 25-year-old Dumaguete native who clocked 59.41.

A member of the La Salle varsity swimming team, Huelgas swept all three legs of the Speedo aquathlon series, including last month?s final stop at the Camaya Coast in Mariveles.

But for organizers Sunkist Tri Club and De La Salle Cares, the biggest winners are the poor kids of Bagac, Bataan, home of the La Salle-run St. Jaime Hilario Integrated School.

?I am very happy that a lot of people are not just into sports but also for other causes like this fund-raising activity,? said school director Bro. Ricky Laguda, adding that they aim to make at least 20 percent of their students full scholars.

Laguda said every P5,000 raised is equivalent to a student?s education for a year. Some 350 runners raced yesterday.

?The race is a good venue for beginners,? said Greg Banzon of RFM Corp.

Among those who joined the races were Sen. Pia Cayetano, Alaska PBA team owner Fred Uytengsu, Paolo and Suzie Abrera, Drew Arellano and Inquirer columnist Tessa Prieto-Valdes.