UP’s Santiago leads Anvaya race winners

MERVIN Rencel Santiago and Fiona Ottiger marked their debut with golden finishes as the duo ruled the 6th Anvaya Cove Invitational Triathlon over the weekend at Morong, Bataan.

Santiago topped the men’s elite division of the 1.2K swim-32K bike-6K run with a time of two hours, two minutes and 27 seconds, while Ottiger submitted 2:36:42 to bag the women’s elite title.

“I didn’t have any expectation since this is my first time to race here,” said the 46-year-old Ottiger. “And I heard it’s very challenging because you have to do the hills three rounds so I was just really happy to come first place.”

Santiago, a member of the University of the Philippines badminton team, also pulled off a surprise win after overhauling the four-minute lead of Douglas Weis in the swim leg.

“My strength is on bike, so that’s where I made up for lost time,” the 20-year-old Santiago said in Filipino. “I caught up with him in the third and last loop of the run leg and made sure that I maintain my lead.”

Weis checked in two minutes behind Santiago at 2:04:36 to clinch runner-up honors, while Romeo Marquez was third in 2:11:13

Last year’s champion Vanessa Aguirre finished a distant second to Ottiger with a time of 2:43:34.

Ottiger’s family all emerged as winners as her son Michael picked up a gold in the Super TriKids 9-10 age group, while husband William earned a bronze in the male 45-49 Jasmine W. Payo