Igot secures 5th gold in Batang Pinoy archery

PUERTO PRINCESA, Palawan, Philippines — Eagle-eyed archer Aldrener Igot Jr. of Cebu City struck with three gold medals yesterday to join the exclusive five-gold club in the ongoing Batang Pinoy National Finals at the Ramon V. Mitra Sports Complex here.

Igot, 15, displayed steady form and took the 40-meter, 50-meter and FITA golds one after the other to add to his triumphs in the 20m and 30m a day earlier, sending him in the elite group of quintuple gold medal winners that included gymnast Karl Eldrew Yulo of Manila.

Swimmers Mark Bryan Dula of Parañaque, Aubrey Tom of Cainta and John Alexander Talosig of Cotabato splashed their way to a fifth gold at the pool in this week-long event supported by Milo.

Talosig, 15, reigned supreme in the the boys’ 400m freestyle in four minutes and 20.03 seconds while Dula, 12, and Tom, 12, joined the former following triumphs in the 100-meter backstroke in 1:8.11 seconds and the 50m freestyle in 28.93 seconds, respectively.

It was, however, Igot’s golden feat that sparkled the most as he won it over a field that consisted of almost the same foes that denied him a single gold in last year’s edition in Baguio City.

“I used it as a motivation and trained harder after it. I’m happy my hard work is paying off,” said Igot, who had five golds and a silver in the Iloilo Leg last March, in Filipino.

And now Igot has a chance to pile up more golds, the most eight, as he is set to compete in the Olympic round and boys and mixed teams in the coming days.

“My target is seven golds,” said Igot.

Naina Dominique Tagle of Dumaguete delivered the other worthy performance in archery after she ruled the 40m, 50m and FITA to improve to four. She pocketed the 20m mint but missed a fifth one in the 30m where she settled for a silver behind Sophie Kyran Manuel of Makati.

Another Talosig, 13-year-old Jie Angela Mikaela, snared the 400m freestyle gold in 4:42.89 to finish with three.

Sta. Rosa’s Ysabelle Jean Alcazar (100m back), Laguna’s Prince Dave Calma (100m back), Kalibo, Aklan’s Kyla Soguilon (100m back), Negros Occidental’s Troy Castor (50m free), Dagupan’s Gabriel Angelo Jizmundo (50m free), Puerto Princesa’s June Pearl Daganio (50m free), Laguna’s Franz Isaac Ubando (200m fly), Dasmariñas’ Renavive Rontessa Subida (200m fly), Marikina’s Sean Isaac Villanueva (200m fly) and Thea Diane Canda (200m fly) were the other winners at the pool.

In centerpiece athletics, Lheslie de Lima of Camarines Sur, the 800m winner, captured the girls’ 3000m mint in 11:23.3 ahead of Joyce Satia of Negros Occidental (11:26.6) and Pagadian’s Cathy Tual (11:29.8).

Erica Marie Ruto of Calamba won her second gold in the 200m.