NEW record holder in 200m and 4-gold winner in Batang Pinoy Karen Janario of Leyte Sports Academy. Photo by Marc Reyes
BACOLOD CITY—Fresh talents emerged as records fell.
The Batang Pinoy national finals reaped its harvest of budding talents as tracksters Karen Janario and Alexis Soqueno and swimmer Lorenzo Jenkins Labao padded their gold medal haul to five each at Panaad Park and Stadium.
Leyte Sports Academy’s Janario and Negros Occidental’s Soqueno established new meet records in topping the girls’ 200-meter run and boys’ 400m hurdles, respectively, that made them the most outstanding athletes in this edition of the competition for athletes 15 years old and younger.
They also steered their respective teams to record-breaking performances before a big, cheering crowd in the 4x400m relays later in the afternoon.
Fourteen-year-old Janario, who won the hearts of many with her sensational rise from being a survivor of Supertyphoon “Yolanda,” cruised to a sprints double after winning the 200m in 25.7 seconds. It bettered the 2012 mark of fellow LSA alumni Leah Joan Creer (26.4 seconds) in Iloilo.
“I’m very happy but this is the product of all our hard work. It’s very hard but all worth it,” said Janario in Filipino.
She underwent national team-level training at Rizal Memorial Sports Complex after the Philippine Sports Commission rescued her and 30 other LSA students from the ruins of Tacloban City.
Janario also anchored the LSA team of Rosemarie Olorvida, Feiza Lenton and Gemmalyn Fino to the 4×400 relay triumph to complete her collection of five golds that included Wednesday’s victories in 100m dash, 100m hurdles and 4×100 with the same teammates.
The LSA team smashed the 4×400 mark by clocking 4 minutes and 7.08 seconds that clipped the 4:16.85 time of Creer, Lyra Bayton, Raye Ferrer and Melissa Escoton of LSA in 2012 Iloilo.
“My dream is to compete in the Olympics,” said the 5-foot-6 Janario, who, according to PSC commissioner Jolly Gomez, might be sent to the United States for intensive training.
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