PNG: Fil-Am gymnast rules the roost with 4 golds

MANILA, Philippines — Elizabeth LeDuc secured a spot in the national pool by dominating women’s artistic gymnastics Friday in the PSC-POC Philippine National Games.

LeDuc, 17, scooped up four gold medals with victories in the beam, bars, floor and all-around where she humbled  nine other homegrown gymnasts.

The Filipino-American from Plano, Texas, compiled 51.35 points in the individual all-around to beat PH standouts Regine Reynoso of Pasig City (44.55) and Manila’s Cristina Onofre (44.05).

A seasoned campaigner in the US junior international elite level, LeDuc scored 13.20 points in the floor, 12.150 in the bars and 12.80 in the beam. LeDuc’s Filipino mother, Coney Torres, hails from Angeles City.

Sofia Gonzales of Muntinlupa City placed second in the bars (8.60) and beam (10.95) while Onofre settled for the silver medal in the floor (12.60).

National pool member Fortunato Abad of Quezon City didn’t disappoint in the men’s category, seizing the gold medals in the pommel horse, rings and individual all-around apart from second-place finishes in the floor exercise, vault and parallel bars.

Abad, 21, garnered 74.87 points in the all-around followed by Brandon Judulang from California (71.60) and Reyland Capellan of Rizal (56.025).

Judulang, 20, topped the parallel bars (12.40) and high bar (12.150) but failed to beat the big performances of Abad in the rings and Capellan in the vault where the Filipino-American ended up with a silver and bronze, respectively.

In the junior’s category, Tristan Lopez pooled 75.275 points to beat Carlos Edriel Yulo (67.175) in the all-around.

Lopez, who won the high bar gold in the US Men’s Junior Olympic National Championship last year, prevailed with 11.950 points before winning the gold in the rings (12.40). Yulo, 13, topped the floor exercise, pommel horse, parallel bars and vault.