Catiil, Torres dominate Subic int’l triathlon

SUBIC—Summoning his old, fiery form, former national team standout Neil Catiil ruled the 2012 K-Swiss Subic Bay International Triathlon Age Group Championships presented by Century Tuna Sunday at the Subic Bay Freeport here.

Dropped from the national team early this year due to conflicts in race schedule, the 25-year-old Catiil boosted his stock with a clocking of two hours, 16 minutes and 38 seconds, close to four minutes ahead of national duathlon standout August Benedicto (2:20:37).

Monica Torres dominated the women’s division, besting 24 other racers in the race organized by the Triathlon Association of the Philippines.

Catiil, who came in second behind Guy Concepcion in the swim leg, pulled away from Benedicto after the first two loops of the run on his way to posting the best run split of 39:44.

Benedicto, who hails from Paniqui, Tarlac, clocked the best time in the bike stage at 1:08:50. National coach George Vilog timed 2:24:15 for third overall and the gold in the 35-39 age-group.

Relying on her strong performance in the bike and run legs, Torres, competing in the 25-29 category, finished the race in 2:31:41. Her splits of 1:17:38 and 44:12 were also the quickest.

Former Southeast Asian Games silver medalist Sandra Araullo-Gonzales settled for the silver in 2:35:07, with Doray Ellis third in 2:41:44.

The golden performances earned Catiil and Torres an all-expense paid trip to the Hong Kong ITU Triathlon Asian Cup slated late this year.

About 550 triathletes saw action in the age-group event of the two-day competition held in cooperation with Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority.

Other winners in the different age group categories: Eduardo Pertierra (male 18-19); Mervin Santiago and Kim Kilgroe (male/female 20-24); Jeff Valdez (male 30-34); Michelle Villanueva (female 35-39); Mark Ellis (male 40-44); Abel Alon Alon and Celma Hitalia (malef/female 45-49); Rne Stroem (male 50-54); Alvin Alindogan (Male 55-59); and Virgilio Balaba (male 60 and over).