CEBU, Philippines - Cebu's pride Justin Chiongbian and Shaia Ruth Uy, both from Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu (SHS-AdC), made their presence felt after ruling the mini sprint race of the 2013 Philippine National Duathlon Championships at the Remy Field in Subic Bay Freeport yesterday.
Chiongbian defended his title in the boys division with a time of 40 minutes and 16.06 seconds, showing that he's back in the groove after experiencing some ups and downs in triathlon last month.
Uy, for her part, had a memorable debut in duathlon after reigning supreme in the distaff side with a 46:13.83 clocking.
Their impressive performances as well as that of those who fared well in the event boosted the plan of the Triathlon Association of the Philippines (TRAP) to put more young athletes in the training pool next year.
“We will be reviewing the performances of our national duathletes because we plan to revamp the squad next year with emphasis on youth and discipline,†said TRAP president Tom Carrasco, Jr.
Aside from the two Cebuano athletes, the other age-group winners in the TRAP-organized tilt were Raven Archer (18-19), Carlo Maniebo (20-24), Christopher Iblan (25-29), Francis Carlo Serrano (30-34), Dejan Glavnik (35-39), Raul Gaerlan (40-44), Jamie Leather (45-49), Arsenio Malibiran (50-54), Josef Gueta (55-59) and Killy Kunimoto (60-over), Humma Saeed (20-29), Josette Tanghal (30-39) and Lyka Leather (40-over). (FREEMAN)