Central Visayas drops to 5th

CEBU, Philippines — Adding only two golds to its medal haul in a rather gloomy Sunday, Central Visayas went down to fifth place in the leaderboard going into the penultimate day of action in the 64th Palarong Pambansa.

After winning the first gilt of the multi-event gathering for grade school athletes all over the country via the 3,000-meter run, Oponganon trackster Asia Paraase of Pajo National High School in Lapu-Lapu City came up with another golden performance, this time in the 1,500m race with a time of four minutes and 51.61 seconds at the Cebu City Sports Center.

In lawn tennis, Mariet Marie Bolongaita of ABC Learning Center in Tayasan and Rousey Dre Paliwag of Valencia Central Elementary School both in Negros Oriental grabbed gold in elementary girls doubles, while James Andrio Estrella and Jye Lexis Villaceran salvaged bronze in elementary boys doubles.

In swimming, Kleone Mole settled for silver in the secondary girls 800m freestyle, while Kacie Gabrielle Tionko bagged a bronze in the 400m individual medley as well as Quiel Noreen Pilayre and Aaron Wade Gordoncillo both in the 100m breaststroke.

Antonette Torregue of Bayawan City donated a bronze in girls wrestling 52 kgs. category.

Despite their efforts, Region 7 still dropped a notch lower from its previous fourth spot in the overall standings with 22 golds, 34 silvers, and 23 bronzes behind the front-running National Capital Region (61-47-56), Calabarzon (42-32-36), Western Visayas (39-28-31), and Davao Region (24-18-21).

The biggest heartache of the day for Central Visayas came after its top bets were dethroned both in the hardcourt and football field.

In the secondary boys 5x5 basketball tilt, Region 7 s title defense came to an abrupt end after the University of the Visayas (UV) Baby Lancers fell prey to the taller and bigger Central Luzon, 83-88, in their tension-filled quarterfinal match at the University of San Carlos (USC)-Main gym.

Central Visayas suffered the same fate in secondary football when last year s champion SHS-Ateneo de Cebu Magis Eagles bowed to Western Visayas, 2-4, despite firing the first two goals in the penalty shootout.

In secondary girls volleyball, the University of San-Jose Recoletos (USJ-R) spikers failed to reach the final after getting crushed by the National Capital Region (NCR) manned by Far Eastern University (FEU) in three sets, 25-18, 25-18, and 25-21 in their intense semis duel.

The Don Bosco Technical College (DBTC) elementary booters somehow became the region s saving grace after they blanked their Northern  Mindanao rivals, 4-0, at their home turf to barge into the semifinal round.