Lozada upends Herrera, nails 1,500-m plum

John Lozada overcame a tough challenge of Philippine Navy’s Rene Herrera in the 1,500-m run, completing a twin victory that made him among the best performers in the 2002 Milo National Open-Sering Cup Track and Field Championships which concluded yesterday at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex.

Lozada needed to make extra push in the homestretch to beat Herrera in an exciting race for his second gold medal following his triumph in the 800-m run in the second day of the multi-nation meet Thursday.

But despite the stiff challenge, Lozada failed to get near the national mark of 3:49.00 set by Hector Begeo in the 1993 Singapore Southeast Asian Games.

Lozada clocked 3:57.69 while Herrera 3:58.08. The Philippine Airforce Team A’s Julius Carmona checked in at 4:03.45 to win the bronze medal.

Still, Lozada emerged among the meet’s notable performers as he joined the "double gold medalists club," including fellow national team mainstays Eduardo Buenavista and Lerma Bulauitan.

Buenavista, who won the 3,000-m steeplechase gold medal Thursday, returned to the rostrum late Saturday following another victory run in the 5,000-m.

Bulauitan took home the long jump and 100m gold medals – her second feat he took at the expense of 2001 Kuala Lumpur SEAG silver medal winner Orranut Klomdee of Thailand.

Alonzo Jardin of the Philippine Army A continued to reign supreme in 110m hurdles but missed on his bid to break the RP record of 14.75 he himself set in the 1997 Jakarta SEA Games.

He clocked 15.14, topping Guilbert Gujar of Laguna (15.34) and Sri Lankan T.M. Nawagamuwa (15.42).

Another local bet, Mercedita Manipol, grabbed some of the attention with a victory in the 1,500-m run with 4:46.26, besting Nhea Ann Barcena of University of Santo Tomas (5:04.54) and Hazyl Madamba of Philippine Navy (5:12.08).

Allan Basco of Del Monte, Bulacan, had a successful title-defense in the boys’ triple jump with a leap of 14.72. Paolo Martinez (14.39) and Servando Namalata (14.18) finished with a silver and bronze medal, respectively.