Athletics chief Philip Ella Juico has marked hurdler Eric Cray, pole vaulter EJ Obiena and triple jumper Mark Harry Diones to deliver the golds while picking 17 other nationals to reach the medal podium of the 2017 Southeast Asian Games.
Juico believes the improvement of these tracksters stemmed from the dedication of the national coaches to train them along with American foreign coach Rohsaan Griffin.
“I credit this good showing by our athletes to our hardworking national coaches together with Rohsaan Griffin,” said Juico.
Griffin, a US track and field standout during the 1990s, was the 1997 and 1999 US indoor champion for men’s 200 meters.
The 43-year-old from Texas City has a personal best of 20.13 seconds in the 200m and finished fifth and sixth in the World Indoor Championships’ 1997 and 1999 editions, respectively.
Griffin is part of the 30-man team that would train at the Hong Kong Sports Institute for seven weeks.