SWIMMERS ILUSTRE, MARTIN SHARE SPOTLIGHT IN NCR PALARO

Bagong balita galing sa Paranaque!

PALARONG Pambansa 2014 standout Maurice Sacho Ilustre continued his dominating ways yesterday, adding  three more golds to his collection to remain undefeated in the National Capital Region  Palaro swimming competitions at the Rizal Memorial Pool.

Ilustre, who swept all of his seven events to take Most Valuable Player secondary plum in the national Palaro held in Sta. Cruz , Laguna last year, posted lopsided victories in the boys 800-meter  freestyle and 100-meter butterfly on top of towing the Muntinlupa tankers to the gold in the 4x100-meter medley relay.

Aiming to duplicate his perfect 7-for-7 feat in last year’s NCR Palaro, the Grade 9 La Salle Zobel student ruled the 800-meter freestyle in a time of nine minutes and 2.88 seconds while topping the 100 butterfly  in 58.63 seconds  for his third individual gold after winning the 400-meter freestyle last Tuesday.

In-between individual events, Ilustre built an insurmountable lead in third and butterfly leg of the relay as Muntinlupa pulled away in winning  4:15.19 of the sportsfest hosted by Paranaque, which is celebrating its 17^th anniversary of cityhood.

“I hope to repeat my accomplishments here. I believe I can do it again,”  said Ilustre, who competed under the banner of Manila last year, with the 200 freestyle and butterfly events and the 4x100-meter freestyle capping his schedule at the close of the swimming meet today.

Paranaque pride Seth Isaak Martin also shared the limelight and likewise remained unbeaten after scooping up his second and third golds, respectively, in the boys elementary 100-meter freestyle (59.97) and 50-meter backstroke (30.57).

Merely 12 years old yet standing at a towering 5-foot-11, Martin, who won three golds and two bronzes in last year’s national Palaro, was confident he would be able to  prevail in  the 50-meter freestyle and 200-meter individual medley today to boost his gold-medal haul.

“Kaya ko po,” the Grade 6 Masters Academy student calmly said of his ambition to emerge as the top elementary athlete not only in swimming but in the multi-event showcase for school athletes in NCR.

Manila’s Jude Ong also hiked her tally to three golds in winning the elementary girls 100-meter freestyle in 1:03.78 following wins in the 200-meter freestyle and 100-meter backstroke last Tuesday.    

Over at the Marikina Sports Park, Malabon’s Mark Angelo Omega and Celestina de Castro of Taguig-Pateros emerged as the fastest runners after ruling the century dash of the high school boys and girls division, respectively, of the NCR Palaro track and field competitions.

Omega clocked 10.987 seconds to win the gold while De Castro checked in with a time of 12.6 seconds on the distaff side.

Quezon City and Manila split honors in the elementary 100-meter races with Mel John Dizon topping the boys contest in 12.5 seconds in while Sally Callos bagged first place in the girls division in 13.435 seconds.

Muntinlupa’s Alvin John Vergel  timed 14.7 seconds in securing the gold in the high school boys 110-meter hurdles while Marikina’s Paula Bardaje ruled the high school girls 100-meter hurdles s in 16.3 seconds.

John Calvin Perez of Taguig-Pateros copped the gold in the elementary boys discus throw with a heave of 23.22 meters while Muntinlupa’s Alexa Naden Alcaraz leapt. 22.78 meters in taking the gold in the girls’ elementary long jump.

Tiny  Jasmine Velasquez of Manila clinched two golds in the girls artistic gymnastics that ended late Tuesday night, ruling the balance beam (12.0) and vault (11.25).

Makati’s willowy Kaizen  dela Serna, a Grade 7 Assumption student, pocketed two golds in the high school girls division in winning the balance  beam (16.9) and vault (12.5).