Sprint king tops 400, eyes 200 gold

Veruel Verdadero. Photo by June Navarro/INQUIRER

SAN JOSE, ANTIQUE— Sprint king Veruel Verdadero of Dasmariñas City is already the fastest man in this year’s Palarong Pambansa, having won the century dash.

He added the 400 meters gold to his tally Thursday at Binirayan Sports Complex.

And the 15-year-old Verdadero, a bronze medalist in the 100m during the recent Southeast Asian Youth Athletics Championships in Ilagan, Isabela, isn’t done yet.

“I also want the 200m,” said the two-time Batang Pinoy Games sprint champion in Filipino. “I have to be in great shape tomorrow.”

Meanwhile, Palaro star Maurice Sacho Ilustre nailed his fifth swimming gold medal in the secondary boys’ 100m butterfly but it was National Capital Region teammate Jerald Jacinto who earned more praise for another record-shattering feat.

The incoming 10th grader from University of the East-Caloocan smashed the 12-year-old mark of Ryan Arabejo (2:12.61) with a 2:11.49 performance in the heats of the 200m backstroke.

Jacinto, already six feet tall at 15 years old, later swam 2:09.87 to reset his own standard for his fourth gold.

Thea Diane Canda of Soccsksargen also eclipsed the 400m free standard of NCR’s Imee Joyce Saadvedra (4:51.83) set in 2014 following her 4:47.70 effort in the elementary level where Kyla Soquilon grabbed her fifth gold in the 50m back.

It was the seventh Palaro record broken by Jacinto following his exceptional outputs in the 100m back, 200m medley relay and 400m medley relay earlier.

Verdadero is the hands-down favorite in the 200m Friday after he topped the centerpiece 100m dash the other day in 10.96 seconds.

The Emilio Aguinaldo College-Immaculate Concepcion Academy Grade 9 student clocked 49.58 seconds in the 400m.