Pangasinan lass wins Batang Pinoy’s first gold

PUERTO PRINCESA, Palawan – Practice makes perfect.

With this as her guiding principle, Rhemilyn Soriano of Pangasinan topped the girls’ long jump in record-breaking fashion yesterday to become the fourth Philippine National Youth Games-Batang Pinoy first gold medalist at the Puerto Princesa Sports Complex here.

A lean but mean Manila delegation, headed by Mayor Lito Atienza’s son Ali, also made its presence felt on Day 1 by sweeping the two gold medals in dancesports as action intensifies in all fronts in this weeklong multi-sports meet for athletes aged 12 years old and below.

But it was Batangas Province that struck the hardest on opening day, hauling three of the first six gold medals in karatedo courtesy of Jenna Jean Herandez (8 years kata), John Paolo Dimaano (9 years kata) and Alexis Bianca Latayan (10 years kata).

Other karatedo winners were Quezon City’s John Gerald Cullera (6, kata) and Crisanto de Mesa (10, kata) and Cebu Province’s Phelina Erika Regis (9, kata).

Displaying awesome grace, the glitzy pair of William Dave Bernardino and Cynthia Tajon dazzled the opposition by ruling both the Latin American and Modern Standard disciplines that gave the Big City bets, the reigning overall champions, a good headstart.

Soriano, a 12-year-old daughter of a barangay captain and a public school teacher, jumped her way to her third gold this year with a distance of 4.82 meters, eclipsing Nimfa Loremas’ mark of 4.59 she set in the second edition in Laguna in January last year.

"I jumped better today (yesterday) because I practiced hard for this," said the Our Lady of Manaoag College high school freshman, who also emerged the long jump queen in the Palarong Pambansa in Naga City and Milo Little Olympics in Lingayen last summer.

Sharing the limelight with Soriano, who bested Laguna’s Maricel Mariano (4.75) and Rose Ann Castro (4.39), in track and field were Misamis Oriental’s Dino Emmanuel Raya and Occidental Mindoro’s Geraldine Pajarillo.

Raya, a graduating grade school student at Baol Central School in Gingoog, heaved over a distance of 8.95m to beat Eastern Samar’s Jeffrey Seso (8.75) and Occidental Mindoro’s Fritz Michael Sales (8.72) for the boys’ shotput gold while Pajarillo made a 51.10m throw in the girls’ baseball throw, outclassing Laguna’s Ara Christy Eduria (43.38) and Misamis Oriental’s Odette Alegado (41.38).

Pajarillo also shattered Zamboanga City native Helen Embudo’s 46.52 mark in Laguna.

Unlike Negros Occidental, which backed out in the last minute due to the outbreak of dengue, Bacolod City arrived early Sunday right before the symbolic parade of colors and made some moves with a two-silver medal haul.

The duo of Raymond Temporoza and Mary Antonette Erazo provided the first silver in the Latin American Discipline while the tandem of Cyril Dave Lim and Annie Honey Seva delivered the second in the Modern Standard Discipline, both behind powerhouse Manila.