Laguna kids best in Batang Pinoy ’02

PUERTO PRINCESA, Palawan – Laguna went on a medal splurge on the final day as it blew off fierce rival Manila to regain the overall championship at the close of the fourth PNYG-Batang Pinoy Friday at the Puerto Princesa Sports Complex here.

In a fantastic display of might, Laguna harvested 14 gold medals in gymnastics, seven in judo, three each in lawn tennis, triathlon and traditional arnis, and one apiece in athletics and soccer to hike its total to 66, clinching the overall title in this weeklong multi-sports meet for children aged 12 years old and below.

Maricel Mariano put the icing on the cake for Laguna as she topped the 50-m dash with a time of 7.0 seconds, beating Cebu Province’s Lovejoy Intong (7.1.10) and Divina Grace Cutanda (7.3.22) and smashing Rory del Camong’s 7.1 mark set in Bacolod City last year.

But it was sort of a shallow victory as her tormentor, triple gold medalist Rhemilyn Soriano of Dagupan, Pangasinan, decided to skip the event. The 12-year-old Soriano won in the long jump and sprint’s double, events Mariano also participated in.

Mariano, 12-year-old first-year student at Pedro Guevarra Memorial High, however, was named the event’s Most Outstanding Athlete. Although she only has two gold medals as against Soriano’s three, she had garnered more points via decent finishes in five events.

"Masaya ako dahil nanalo ako ng award na ito," said the 12-year-old Mariano, whose other gold came in the 4x400-m race.

Mariano also humbled several others in the elite group of quadruple gold medal winners in swimming led by Carlos Alipio Fernandez, grandson of DILG Undersecretary Alipio Fernandez.

The Big City bets, for their part, could only come up with five gold medals in taekwondo, four in badminton and one each in table tennis and badminton for a total of 42 as it wound up a distant second.

Quezon City finished a far third with a haul of 13 gold, 12 silver and 19 bronze medals, including four in karatedo, two in taekwondo, one each in gymnastics and athletics courtesy of Christine Delfin.

Cebu City had golden performances in gymnastics (5), weightlifting (2), table tennis (2), boxing (1) and judo (1) for a 12-gold total while Cebu Province finished at fifth spot with a final day winnings in weightlifting (6), badminton (3), karatedo (3), lawn tennis (2), taekwondo (1) and athletics (1).

Rounding up the top 10 were Zamboanga City (10 gold, 12 silver and 17 bronze medals), Misamis Oriental (7-7-11), Cagayan de Oro (7-0-2), Bacolod City (6-10-16), and Rizal (6-7-10).

Other gold medal winners in athletics were Cotabato Province’s Edmund Politud, who topped the boys’ 400-m dash with a time of 58.1.04, and Misamis Oriental’s Gemilo Vallejera, who bagged his second gold medal via a victory in the boys’ 50-m dash with a clocking of 6.5.48.