Albert ES trackster hauls 6 golds in MYG

Dr. A. Albert Elementary School’s Emerlyn Roselle Illescas continued her winning run in athletics but it was the St. Jude Mariners team of District VI which ran away with the overall title as the third Manila Youth Games ended yesterday at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex.

Not content with her earlier conquests in the girls’ 13-15 400-meter run, long jump and 4x100-m relay, the 14-year-old Illescas annexed the century dash (13.63-m), high jump (1.3-m), and triple jump (8.94-m) to hike her collection to six golds.

"Masayang masaya ako kasi last year, silver lang ang pinakamataas na nakuha ko sa mga events na ito," said Illescas, a Palarong Pambansa qualifier, who had gained experience from other competitions like the Patafa weekly relays, the Division of City Schools meet, the Palarong Maynila and the Milo Little Olympics.

Cristina Paguia (girls’ 12-under 100-m dash) and Omar Paul Nakan (boys’ 12-U 400-m run) also gave their contributions to the delegation from District IV, which compiled 16 golds as of noon.

However, the St. Jude Green Mariners of District VI had already placed a lock on the overall championship even with athletics and taekwondo still to be completed in the final day of the multi-event competition.

The SJGM tankers’ output of 38-37-35 was already too much for the Sampaloc-based Dr. Albert ES (16-13-14) to overhaul.