Ubas dominates heptathlon, joins twin-gold winners

BAGUIO, Philippines — Seasoned national athlete Janry Ubas flaunted his all-around brilliance for a dominant heptathlon win to cap off an impressive two-gold medal haul at the end of the Ayala Philippine Athletics Championships at the Athletic Bowl here yesterday.

A day after reigning supreme in the men’s long jump, the versatile Ubas ruled all but one heptathlon events for a total of 5109 points, way ahead of silver medalist Allen Roy Mationg (3956) and bronze winner John Christian Cresencia (3916).

Ubas, 27, joined Clinton Bautista, Katherine Khay Santos, Maureen Emily Schrijvers and Bernalyn Bejoy as twin-gold medal winners.

“It’s an okay performance with only a two-month training so we believe that we’re on track to our goals. We are right there at par with our expectations,” said Ubas, who took home a decathlon bronze in the 2019 SEAG won by compatriot Aries Toledo.

Ubas won in the 60-meter run, long jump, shot put, high jump, 60m hurdle and pole vault before coming in third in the 1,000m run that served as the last event yesterday.

Earlier, Schrijvers clocked 26.03 seconds to win the women’s 200m while hurdles ace Bejoy clocked one minute and 2.66 seconds to top the women’s 400m hurdles. Schrijvers and Bejoy previously won the 400m and 800m runs, respectively.

Reigning SEAG marathon champion Christine Hallasgo took care of business, finishing the women’s 10,000m run in 38:22.54 seconds.

Meanwhile, SEAG silver medalist Mark Harry Diones (men’s triple jump) also bagged gold along with Ricky Organiza (men’s 5,000m), Arniel Ferrera (men’s hammer throw), Evalyn Palabrica (women’s javelin throw), Melvin Calano (men’s javelin throw), Van Alexander Obejas (men’s 400m hurdles), Leonard Grospe (men’s high jump) and Mariano Masano (men’s 1,500m).