Cid rips decathlon record; Ulboc ends Herrera reign

NAYPYITAW—Decathlete Jesson Ramil Cid and steeplechaser Christopher Ulboc Jr.  stamped their marks here Wednesday  as  track and field bets continued to spark  the Philippine campaign in the Southeast Asian Games.

The 21-year-old Cid amassed 7,038 points to rip the national mark (6,963)   set by Fidel Gallenero in 2001  while the 23-year-old Ulboc ended the 10-year reign of compatriot Rene Herrera in the 3,000-meter steeplechase as athletics raised its gold output to five, a vast improvement from its two-gold haul in the 2011 Jakarta SEAG.

Cid, an education major from Far Eastern University, where Ulboc also studies,  capped his impressive showing with a clocking of 4:36.10 in the 1,500 meters of the 10-sport discipline.

“I’m strong in running and it somehow compensated for my deficiency in throwing events,’’ said Cid, a prize find from Dingras, Ilocos Norte.

Ulboc clocked 9 minutes 01.59 seconds to beat Tien San Pham of Vietnam (9:02.50) and Thailand’s Patikarn Pechsricha (9:04.04).

Herrera, winner of the event since the 2003 Vietnam games, was fourth in 9:09.14.

“I wasn’t really expecting this. It’s my first gold medal in any international event,’’ said the middle-distance runner from Tangub City, who pulled away after the water jump in the last 150 meters.

Earlier gold medals from athletics  came from Henry Dagmil (long jump), Christian Archand Bagsit (400 meters) and Eric Shauwn Cray (400m hurdles).

“I was leading all the way but I strained my calf during the final lap,’’ said Herrera.

Filipino-American Jessica Bernard copped the bronze in women’s steeplechase after clocking 11:04.84, a minute slower than Indonesia’s Rini Budiarti (10:04.54).

Katherine Khay Santos cleared 5.93m and landed fourth in women’s long jump, the same placing of Filipino-American  counterpart Tyler Ruiz.