Dominant Baniqued nears IronKids sweep, Borlain makes triumphant return

SUBIC—Juan Francisco “Wacky” Baniqued continued his winning ways while Tara Borlain returned from a two-leg absence with a bang as they led the winners in the Alaska IronKids Aquathlon II yesterday at Remy Field here.

Baniqued beat Clifford Pusing in an exciting race to the finish to stay on track for a sweep of the four-leg circuit in 2017. This was Baniqued’s third win already. Fellow 13-14 category standout Borlain debuted this year with a runaway triumph in the distaff side.

Baniqued encountered tough resistance from Pusing, who kept within pace as they entered the last 100 meters. But Baniqued reached home first, although the duo posted identical times of 19 minutes and 18 seconds.

“It was a very close race and whoever has the mental toughness and the will to win would win the race,” said Baniqued, who looks to complete a clean sweep of the event produced and organized by Sunrise Events, Inc. and sponsored by Alaska Milk in the culminating Triathlon II race in Cebu this August.

After sitting out the first two races, Borlain came back by winning the 400m swim-3K run event in 19:55 over distant second Gene Heart Quiambo (22:01).

“I skipped two legs because I had to prioritize my studies at that time so I’m happy to be back,” said Borlain.