Cagayan lass bags first gold

STA. CRUZ, Laguna – Three records fell on the tracks of the San Luis RECS Village while host Laguna swept the four cycling gold medals in a big show under intermittent rains as action went into full gear yesterday in the second Batang Pinoy Games here.

Nimfa Loremas, 12-year-old sixth grader from the tobacco-producing province of Cagayan, won the meet’s first gold medal by ruling the girls’ long jump event in record-setting fashion.

Loremas, who draws inspiration from Sydney Olympics veteran Lerma Bulauitan, shattered the old mark of 4.32 meters set by La Union’s Jane Fregillana in the 1999 inaugural staging in Bacolod City with a winning jump of 4.59 early in the day.

As rains poured late in the day, Maguindanao’s Mashod Eskak unleashed a last-minute burst of strength to take the gold in the boys’ shot put with a heave of 11.19 meters, erasing the 1999 record of Modesto Makdan Jr. of Negros Occidental.

Mark Lloyd Beldia, who led after a throw of 11.10 on his first try, tried to surpass Eskak’s mark but was called for a foul for continuous movements. Beldia settled for the silver while Joel Tadejas of Quirino Province won the bronze (10.58m).

Capping the impressive action-packed opening day in athletics was Zamboanga’s Helen Embudo, who topped the girls’ baseball throw event over a distance of 46.52m to break the 1999 record of 45.8 by Maria Vinedas Miranda of Camarines Sur.

While records were rewritten in the centerpiece athletics event, Laguna made its presence felt by winning all four gold medals at the start of the cycling competition on the Bubukal Road.

In the 10-12 age bracket, Kenneth Alcaraz won the gold in the BMX seven-kilometer race with a time of 12:15.05 while Riman Ricol topped the mountain bike section in 14:01.90.

Camarao registered a time of 5:24.64 in the two-kilometer BMX race while Del Moro clocked 6:37.53 in the mountain bike section to complete Laguna’s haul.

While his teammates rejoiced, Patrick Adonis, who placed second, grimaced in pain as he suffered bruises after bumping against a moving pick-up van of PTV-4 near the finish line.

Adonis was quickly rushed to the nearby hospital but was later released.

Late in the day, perennial favorite Muntinlupa ruled the gymnastics competition after winning both the gold in the boys’ and girls’ Group 1 Individual all-around event.

Karl Barcellano topped the boys’ bracket with a score of 17.3 points while Charmaine Dolar ruled the distaff side with a score of 16.825.

But the event, supported by the Philippine Tourism Authority, STI and Lactum Choco, was not without controversies.

Laguna volleyball coach Carlos Roman filed a protest over alleged age-cheating by the Tawi-Tawi squad.

A team official from Mindanao is also considering filing action against athletes from Maguindanao for age cheating.

Sources told The STAR that these athletes, who competed last year, look older than the age limit of 12 years.

Palarong Pambansa and had the physical features a boy past the age limit of 12.

"This is a blatant violation of the rules of Batang Pinoy," said the source. "We’re trying to check on these athletes and until we can obtain proper documents that will support our claim, we’ll keep mum on this issue at the moment."