By CYRUS M. GARDE
STA. CRUZ, Laguna — A 15-year-old son of a former Palarong Pambansa baseball player, Alexis Soqueño Jr., gifted Western Visayas with its first Palaro record, breaking a 12-year-old mark in the secondary boys’ high jump.
Soqueño, an incoming fourth year high school student of Romanito Maravilla National High School in Bacolod City, jumped to 1.92 meters in his second try at the at the new Laguna Sports Complex in Brgy. Bubukal here.
His time eclipsed the 1.90-meter record of Paulo Martinez of host Calabarzon established in the Naga City Palaro in 1992.
Soqueño’s personal best is the 1.93 meters he registered during the national Batang Pinoy in Bacolod City. He also registered 1.90 meters in the Western Visayas regional meet in February in San Jose, Antique.
He won the silver medal for Western Visayas in last year’s Palaro in Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental, with 1.75 meters. National Capital Region’s (NCR) John Resty Lorenzo dominated with 1.80 meters.
Western Visayas won more medals Wednesday in 800 meters secondary boys and girls and 100 meters secondary girls.
Noime Sequita, 18, of Brgy. Conchita, San Dionisio, Iloilo, ruled the secondary boys’ 800 meters, with teammate Jayson Fernandez, 15, of New Lucena, Iloilo, settling for silver medal.
Sequita is competing in the relays today.
Fernandez settled for bronze in secondary boys 5,000 meters, clocking 16:27.7 seconds, with Northern Mindanao Kevin Capangpangan dominating the event in 15:59.2 seconds. Mc Lord Cabalonga of CAVRAA settled for silver in 16:01.0.
Anjelica De Josef of Aklan, who broke the 19-year-old record of Dely Condez (2:18.3 seconds) of National Capital Region in secondary girls’ 800 meters in the 1995 Lingayen, Pangasinan, Palaro by registering 2:17.2 seconds in last year’s Palaro, also added another gold medal for Western Visayas.
Mary Anthony Diesto, 16, of Negros Occidental High School, who earlier won the secondary girls’ long jump (5.39 m) and silver in triple jump (11.25 m), ruled the 100 meters Wednesday afternoon to become the fastest runner in the division.
Diesto’s feat in 100 meters covered the lull for Western Visayas in winning the event for six years. The last time the region won the event was in the 2007 Palaro in South Cotabato, with Bagoeño Luville Dato-on clocking 12.6 seconds.
For the past 15 years, Eastern Visayas failed to win a single gold medal, but Leah Joann Creer gifted the “Yolanda”-devastated region with a gold medal in secondary girls’ 4500 meters, clocking 59.3 seconds.
Zamboanga Peninsula Camevale Acopiado settled for silver (59.6 seconds), while Western Visayas Louielyn Pamatian took the bronze in 59.9 seconds.
Creer and teammate Karen Janario of Leyte Sports Academy came close to Diesto in secondary girls’ 100 meters for silver and bronze respectively.
Janario, a 15-year-old Filipino-American, won five personal gold medals in the last national Batang Pinoy in Bacolod City and was the tournament’s most bemedaled runner.
Mary Joy Garcia of San Joaquin, Iloilo, added another silver in secondary girls’ shot put (10.98 m), which was dominated by Central Luzon’s Dianne De Jesus (11.06 m).
Glory Ann Unlayco (37.68 m) settled for silver in elementary girls’ javelin throw dominated by Socksargen’s Marizel Buer with a heave of spear in 39.88 m.
Region 6 won more bronze medals in other events.
Negrense Ray Benedict Aboy of University of Negros Occidental-Recoletos and Lynch Mananquil of Educational Training Center School in Bacolod City won the bronze in elementary boys’ 110 hurdles and 400 hurdles, respectively.
Bryan Pacheco of Central Luzon has so far reset two Palaro records in secondary boys’ shot put and javelin throw.
NCR’s Jomar Udtohan also reset the 16-year-old secondary boys’ century dash, clocking 10.8 seconds, to erase the old record of Cagayan Valley Ronald Calauan of 10.9 seconds established in the 1998 Palaro in Bacolod City.
Udtohan also won the 400 m secondary boys, clocking 48.7 seconds./PN
