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by Frank Calapre, Correspondent
KORONADAL CITY: Stephanie Cimatu
of Ilocos Region set a new record Friday in the girls elementary
javelin throw as defending champion National Capital Region
virtually wrapped the overall title in the 2007 Palarong Pambansa at
the South Cotabato Sports Complex here.
The 13-year-old Cimatu, a protégé
of former Southeast Asian Games champion Erlinda Lavandia, poured it
all in her fourth attempt for a record-breaking distance of 38.53
meters, way ahead of the old mark of 34.94 meters recorded by Nina
Malinao of Calabarzon in Pili, Camarines Sur, in 1997.
“I thanked my coach [Lavandia]
for this victory. Since she started training me, I improved a lot.
She really wanted me to focus on breaking the record and not just to
win,” said Cimatu in Filipino, who could only finished 5th in the
same event last year in Naga City. Lavandia, the long-time SEA Games
record holder in javelin, was hired by former Gintong Alay chief
Michael Keon since last year to coach the Ilocos Norte athletics
team.
Cimatu, a Grade 6 student, was
the second athlete to establish a new record in athletics here after
Maika de Oro of Western Visayas in the girls elementary discuss
throw last Thursday.
NCR added 8 more gold medals in
swimming, 5 in chess and 6 in sipa as well as 2 each in archery and
gymnastics to end the penultimate day with already 378 points in the
high school and 392 in the elementary level.
The 12-year-old de Oro, daughter
of a former PRISAA champion, threw 33.07 meters in to surpass
the old 30.38-m mark set by Jihan Badojos of Central Visayas in
Bacolod City in 1998.
“It’s in my blood because my
father and mother were former athletes in the PRISAA. They were also
the ones who taught me the sports,” said de Oro, also a Grade
student.
Three new records were also
established in swimming for a total of five so far in the 2007
edition of this multievent, a far cry from 24 (7 in athletics and 17
in swimming) in Naga City last year.
The Department of Education,
however, blamed the scorching heat since the opening day as the main
factor for the sub par performances of the 4,848 athletes from 17
regions.
“Our athletes this year tried
very hard but the sweltering heat was too much for them even to
bear, so I think they deserve everything,” said DepEd Palaro Task
Force chairman Len Toledo.
To the relief of many, a sudden
heavy downpour of rain struck early in the day and at noon
yesterday, the first since almost a month already, said Philippine
Information Agency regional director Olivia Sudaria.
Other record breakers were Gian
Daniel Berino of the National Capital Region, who made 2:11.00 in
the elementary boys 200-m freestyle, which bettered the 2:11.76 set
by Ronald Guiriba in April, 2000 in Bacolod City and teammate Mathew
Tano, who made 59.41-seconds in the preliminary of the secondary
boys 100-m butterfly. The old record was 59.58 registered by Ernest
Lorenzo of Bicol Region in 2005 in Iloilo City.
The fifth new record holder was
the NCR secondary girls relay team, which timed in at 2:12.24 in the
200-m medley relay, surpassing the 2: 29.49 record of Central
Visayas in 1998 in Bacolod City.
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