MAURICE Sacho Ilustre, the Palarong Pambansa swimming sensation, captured three gold medals yesterday in the Luzon qualifying leg of the Philippine National Games at Rizal Memorial Sports Complex.
The 16-year-old Ilustre, who swept all his seven Palaro events last May in Davao del Norte, ruled the boys’ 400-meter freestyle, 100m freestyle and 200m butterfly.
“My goal is to make it to the national finals and compete with the national swimmers,” said Ilustre who hails from Muntinlupa.
Mary Angelic Saavedra of Manila also bcame a multiple gold winner after winning the girls’ 100m backstroke and 200m butterfly.
Also bagging golds in their respective events were Pricila Loren Aquino of San Juan, La Union, in the girls’ 400m freestyle, Johansen Benedict Aguilar of Manila in boys’ 200m backstroke, and Roanne Florence Yu of Manila in the girls’ 100m free.
Joshua Talcon of Manila ruled the boys’ 50m breaststroke, while Maurize Govanne Dabi copped the gold in the girls’ 50m breaststroke.
Manila’s Juan Miguel Narciso, Benjie Gregory Narciso, Alfonso Jose Bautista and Talcon dominated the boys’ 200m medley relay.