Again, CVIRAA places 4th in Palaro

San Jose, Tarlac , Philippines  — For the nth time, the Central Visayas Regional Athletic Association (CVIRAA) landed at fourth place overall in the 53rd Palarong Pambansa, which dropped off its curtains yesterday at the Tarlac Recreational Center here.

Be it a points system or a medal count, CVIRAA is still nailed at fourth with 231.17 points, way behind perennial champion National Capital Region (NCR) with 640 points.

Western Visayas placed second with 430 points followed by the Southern Tagalog or Calabarzon with 402.67 points.

The CVIRAA contingent, composed mainly of Cebuano athletes, fell short of its targets save for archery, gymnastics, secondary athletics, boxing, badminton and football.

In elementary girls volleyball, the Catmon-powered squad fumbled after completing a rare grandslam finish last year, bowing this time of Western Visayas. Worse, its boys counterparts failed to win a medal.

In sepak takraw, CVIRAA was dethroned by MIMAROPA in the inter-team and regu, while CVIRAA's elementary baseball bets, who placed second last year, was nowhere in the top three this time.

Even the likes of star swimmer Loren Dale Echavez, tennis mainstays Bernardine and Sallymae Siso and table-netters Elona Dane and Dannel Jay Tormis failed to deliver what were expected of them.

Echavez though still has something to cheer about as he broke a 12-year-old record in the 100m freestyle to finish with one gold and three silvers.

Niño Siso missed a medal in the singles category although they won in the team event, while his sister Sallymae just settled for a silver in the singles competition.

It was the same story for the Tormis siblings. Dannel Jay could only snatch a silver, while Elona Dane laid one big, fat egg.

Crizabelle Merto was the biggest surprise among the 400 athletes under Central Visayas as she swept all but one of her events. She is one of Palaro’s most decorated athletes with four golds and a silver in archery.

Merto’s teammates Julian Sebastian Teves also had a gold, while Romeo Betache and Princess Moya chipped in two silvers.

Mandaue track star Daniel Noval lived up to his lofty billing as the fastest man in Palaro and spiced it up with a golden finish in the 200m run.

Ivan Castañeda also made his first and last Palaro stint a memorable one by winning gold in long jump and a silver in triple jump, while Gia Bucag bade farewell from the elementary level in style, defending her javelin throw crown in record-establishing fashion.

Gymnast Heiro John Concepcion came up with a gold from the horse vault and bronze in the individual all-around, while AJ Melgar contributed a bronze and Mary Carmelli Garovillo with two silvers and a bronze.

The other medal contributors for CVIRAA were taekwondo jins John Paul Tomarse and Claire Panaginip with a bronze apiece in poomsae, arnisadors Ellias Balopenas and Jenny de la Peña with a bronze each, Hipolito Banal with a silver and Lorens Michael Romarate with a silver and a bronze in elementary boys chess and the badminton girls doubles.

CVIRAA sealed its bid in the week-long athletic meet with a silver from its secondary booters.

The Springdale-manned squad with a reinforcement from Abellana National School and Don Bosco Technology Center faltered in its gold medal quest after being vanquished by the Davaoeños in the final, 2-0.

Overall, DepEd-7 director Borgonia expressed satisfaction on the performance of Central Visayas.

“It’s an improvement because there is a wider gap in terms of points in the fourth place to fifth place,” Borgonia said.

In terms of medals, CVIRAA ended the multi-sport conclave with 13 golds, 30 silvers and 18 bronzes. (FREEMAN NEWS)