Valencia, Tangub schools dominate athletic events

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – Bukidnon’s Valencia City National High School (VCNHS) proved it is the new athletics capital in Mindanao when it outpaced Tangub City Naional High School (TCNHS) in the medal race for the two-day 2008 MILO Littele Olympics Mindanao at the Rosevale School oval.
Runners Ralph Jay Ebora and Aiko Edrolin amassed three gold medals each in the boys and girls division to boost VCNHS’ bid for supremacy in athletics with total haul of 10 golds as their compatriots added four more.
Ebora, a senior student of VCNHS, cleared the hurdles in the 400-meter and 110-meter better than anybody else at 1:43.47 minutes and 18.90 seconds, respectively, aside from breasting the tape ahead of the pack in the 400-meter dash at 1:03.47 minutes.
Edrolin, for her part, sprinted the century distance in 13.57 seconds, stopped the clock in the 200-meter race in 28.34 seconds, and finished the 400-meter distance in 1:17.52 minutes, way ahead of her pursuers.
VCNHS had gold-medal feats in the boy’s 4x100-meter relay and 4x400-meter relay while Zeus Sabio Jr. took the 200-meter challenge in a convincing a 23.72-second fashion and Irene Degracia’s 5:12.96-minute finish in the 1,500-meter run.
TCNHS, the perennial athletics champ in this annual multi-event school-based sports competitions, could muster only an 8-3-3 medal harvest and settled for second overall in athletics secondary school level.
Middle-distance runner Jennelyn Surdilla shared in the most in TCNHS’s medal count as she took three gold medal from 800 meters, 1,500 meters, and in the 3,000. In fact, she outran fellow TCNHS athlete Roxanne Maaba, the current National Milo Marathon second-place regional qualifier, by 47 seconds in the 800 meters.
TCNHS’s Regine Ganiolon also nailed three more golds for her school after 4.23-meter performance in long jump, 1.25-meter feat in high jump and in anchoring the 4x100-meter relay. Other top feat were shown by Melvin Paler in javelin throw (42.87 meters) and Jessah Mae Fernandez in shotput (7.79 meters).
Camiguin National High School, with three gold medals and a silver, is at third place overall in athletics.
But among the athletes that saw action in this year’s edition of Milo Little Olympics, the most bemedalled athlete, with four gold medals in her sleeve, emerged from Tangub City Central School (TCCS), the petite Mary Grace Candano who anchored the relays in the 4x100 meters, 8x50 meters, and 4x400 meters as well as wrapping up the 400 meters in 1:24.56 minutes.
Thus, TCCS athletes compensated what their seniors lack as they stood out in most athletic events contested, bagging 10 gold, four silver and five bronze medals. Aside from Candano, three other TCCS athletes who contributed the gold medals. Donnie Albaracin anchored the 4x100 meter relay and was most impressive in long jum (4.25 meters) and in high jump (1.21 meters) while John Paborada was the starting running in the 4x400-meter relay for the gold as well as in 800-meter run in 2:59.31 minutes.
Little known Iponan Elemnetary School (IES) of Cagayan de Oro salvaged the second spot in athletics in the elementary with three gold medal haul on top of its two silvers and a bronze.
IES’s Shaina Keth Cemacio finished the 100-meter sprint in 13.85 seconds and the 200-meter in 30.41 second and took the gold medals while Catherine Perez, also of IES, threw the solid shotput ball 5.10 meter for another gold medal finish.
Balubal Elementary School was just a silver medal behind from IES as it also collected three gold medals but had only a silver and two bronze medals.
Meanwhile, 2008 Milo Little Olympics Mindanao area organizer Megdonio R. Llamera said that a total of 85 elementary schools and 73 secondary schools, both public and private, competed in the 2008th edition of the Milo Little Olympics and saw action in 10 other events, aside from athletics. Other events they competed upon were in badminton, chess, football, gymnastics, lawn tennis, sepak takraw, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo and volleyball.
Llamera also announced that the awarding ceremonies for the top 10 performing schools in the elementary and secondary levels and the most outstanding athletes for the 11 events will be held on December 6, 2008 at the Atrium, SM City Cagayan de Oro. Winners in the media photo contest will also be known during the occasion.

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