Foreign contingents due for National trackfest

A total of 806 local and foreign tracksters will see action in the Milo Invitational Track and Field Championships unfolding Thursday at the Rizal Memorial Track and Field Stadium with a crack team from Thailand leading the invited foreign squads to the four-day event.

Organizers said the foreign entries are expected to arrive beginning today with the Hong Kong delegation planing in at 4:25 p.m. aboard Cathay Pacific to be followed by the contingents from Sri Lanka, Brunei, Singapore, Papua New Guinea, Chinese Taipei, Sabah and Thailand.

Indonesia and Vietnam, two of the country’s chief rivals in the Southeast Asian Games, are also expected to compete in the event. The Philippines will be bannered by a mix of young and veteran campaigners who anchored the country’s decent finishes in the Taiwan and Thailand Opens.

They are Sydney Olympic veterans Eduardo Buenavista and Lerma Bulauitan, marathoner Roy Vence, John Lozada, Joebert Delicaño, Christabel Martes and newest track sensation Geralyn Amandoron.

Sabah is sending a total of 40 athletes, followed by Brunei (10), Thailand (6), Chinese Taipei (6), Hong Kong (5), Singapore (5), Papua New Guinea (5) and Sri Lanka (4).

Far Eastern University, on the other hand, has fielded in 32 athletes followed by Philippine Navy (30), Adamson (29), Philippine Air Force (26), University of the East (24), University of Santo Tomas (23), Letran (22) and Polytechnic University of the Philippines (22). — Joey Villar