Obscure teeners take charge

SOCSKSARGEN - Erstwhile unknown teeners emerged from the humble families of some forgotten towns while a 15-year-old Quezon City lass established herself as the queen of the tracks, besting all winners in all age levels as the war for gold medals erupted on all fronts of the Palaro ng Bayan yesterday.

Reyney delos Reyes, an out-of-school youth, raced to immortality and gave Iloilo two of a pacesetting six-gold medal haul in the municipal-provincial championships held at the Acharon Sports and Development Center in General Santos City.

Delos Reyes, a San Dionisio, Iloilo athlete and a carpenter's son who won the long jump a day earlier, ruled the 100m for 13-15 year olds in 11.4 seconds to become the Palaro's first double gold medalist.

Jeremy Simpao, 15, also a carpenter's son from Sta. Barbara, ruled the 1,500m, while Charmie Cabale, 14-year-old daughter of a tailor and the 100-200m gold medal winner in the Centennial Palaro of 1998, won the 100m dash. Roneline Alido, 14, and a farmer's daughter from Alimodian, captured the 1,500m, and Eddie Barba, also 14, from the famous dried-fish town of Culasi, took the pole vault for 13-15 boys.

However, it could not be determined whether the six-medal effort of Iloilo was a runaway output after two days of competition in athletics as organizers failed again to cope up with the deluge of results from venues in Sarangani, Koronadal (Cotabato), and Sultan Kudarat. The network which has its main base in General Santos City collapsed when a virus invaded the computers, organizers said.

Honey Joy Ortaliz, 15-year-old sophomore of the Ramon Magsaysay High School in Quezon City, gave credence to her NCRAA title by winning the 100m dash in the Highly Urbanized Cities (HUC) competitions on the rain-soaked tracks of Koronadal, Cotabato in 12.53 seconds.

Her clocking surpassed those of Cabale (12.6) in the provincial-town level, a separate level of competition here, and of Rowena Ortega of Camarines Sur who had 12.7 in the 16-18 bracket.

The tanned Ortaliz gathered speed in the last 40 meters to win pulling away in the century dash and gain a big applause as the "darling in the rain" of the crowd which prompted now-retired Lydia de Vega Mercado to later say the girl holds a future in the sprint.

"May chances dahil may height," said de Vega, who is a member of the technical committee.

In swimming, Cebu City snatched three golds, compliments of Laressa Ang (40m butterfly, 32.28), Andrew Dequina (200m backstroke, 2:24.22), and Jemavilla Tan (100m freestyle), while Bacolod City, the South's main training center of national swimmers, produced two gold medalists in Jeremy Galang (2m backstroke, 2:23.72) and Enrique Velez (50m butterfly).

PALARO NOTES: The organizing committee has scheduled a three-day colloquium on sports leadership and management at the Family Country Hotel and Convention Center here from Feb. 29-March 2. The colloquium aims to update sports leaders with the latest national and international developments affecting sports training, sports administration and management.