MERVIN Rencel Santiago leaned on a solid finish to rule the Aboitiz TRI2015 at Pico de Loro Beach and Country Club at Hamilo Coast in Nasugbu, Batangas, over the weekend.
Trailing at fifth place after the swim leg, Santiago quickly recovered to conquer the 1.5K swim-40K bike-10K run in two hours, 21 minutes and 18 seconds.
Sante Barley’s Santiago edged former national triathlon coach Peter Gonzalez, who finished with a 2:31:28 clocking, and John Omar Paredes, who rounded out the podium finishers with a time of 2:35:14.
AboitizLand’s Amale Jopson topped the distaff side at 2:56:00 and also emerged as the only female racer to post a time below the three-hour barrier.
In the relay division, the Aboitiz Cycling Team of Edward James Roque, Kristian Reyes and Jose De Jesus clinched top honors with a combined total time of 2:44:15, while Open Access (2:47:20) and Triple Threat (2:50:32) settled for runner-up finishes.
Other winners in the age-group races were Santiago, Noel Eliezer Navarro and Huxley Yu (18-24); Barnett Angeles, Carlos Benedict Santos and Macky Antonio (25-29); Miguel Mallillin, Jon Osorio and Ralph Jerome Salvador (30-34); John Omar Paredes; Antonio Miguel Lorenzo and Jay Jay Cantor (35-39); Junrox Roque, Florentino Magundayao and Sylvain Mazoyer (40-44); Gonzalez, Emmanuel Mondero and RJ Lorenzo (45-49); Lorenzo Ocampo, Edwin Cagulat and Eduardo Francisco (50-54); and Josef Gueta, Nick Thomas and Chito Generoso (55-above.)
The women’s division winners were Irish Ivy Domingo, Bel Santos and Gabri Silvestre (18-24); Vanessa Hans, Emilaine Balatibat and Kylee Therese Lagman (25-29); Jayline Balatibat, Juliette Leusink and Anna Grace Arbolario (30-34); and Anais Lapid, Cherry Ramos and Fifi Runas (35-39). Jasmine W. Payo