Big City bets in command

LINGAYEN, Pangasinan—Long-distance ace John Rey Moreno and Perlita Ynot Jra streaked to their third victories in athletics as National Capital Region braced for a showdown with defending champion Visayas in the Third National Milo Little Olympics at the Narciso Ramos Sports and Civic Center here.

The 16-year-old Moreno topped the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 10 minutes and 01.11 seconds Sunday, a victory that came on the heels of his golden feats in the 1,500m (4:18.61) and 5,000m (17:25.17) runs in the secondary boys division last Saturday.

“I’m so happy because my hard work paid off,” Moreno said in Filipino.

The Immaculate Concepcion Academy standout’s bid for a fourth gold was dashed, though, when the NCR 4x100m relay squad was relegated to second by the Visayas quartet.

Ynot Jra, who ruled the secondary girls’ long jump event on Saturday, dominated the triple jump (11.04 meters) and provided ample support as the NCR team topped the 4x400m relay in 4:12.11, way ahead of Visayas (4:23.10) and Mindanao (4:26.61).

Already the queen of the 800m run in the secondary class, Rocena Chua snatched another gold in the 400m hurdles while Marian Audrey Yorac clinched the high jump crown with a 1.43m effort and Jenelyn Arle recorded 30.91m to clinch the javelin throw title for NCR, which also got another top finish in triple jump through John Lanuza (13.36m).

Big City tankers also flexed their muscles in the boys’ and girls’ divisions, with St. Jude’s Joshua Ching scoring victories in the 100m and 200m backstroke and 400m medley relays.

Visayas pressed its bid for a third straight overall crown by coming up with a fair share of the golden harvest in the secondary boys’ athletics contest.

Roy Villahermosa topped the 400m hurdles (58.77 seconds) and the 400m run (52.60).
Cebuano Raul Perez Jr. won the secondary boys 200m in 22.80 seconds while Neslee Angco completed a golden double, ruling the 200m (26.32 seconds) and 400m race (1:01.27).

University of Cebu’s Jelena Joy Dagalan also topped the discus throw (28.51m) for the Visayas, which swept the scrabble crowns.