By REYNALD MAGALLON
GENERAL SANTOS CITY – Iloilo Province bet Kian Labar emerged as the fastest man in the 2025 Batang Pinoy to complete a golden treble in athletics just as Sophia Rose Garra of Malabon and FJ Catherine Cruz of Mabalacat made big waves in swimming at the Antonio Acheron Sports Complex on Wednesday, Oct. 29, here.
Armed with long strides and lightning quick feet, the 17-year-old from Dingle National High School mustered all of his remaining strength in the last 30 meters to beat his closest pursuer Renz Solomon from Bacolod by a hairline – 0.02 seconds to be exact – after clocking 10.82 seconds in the boys U18 100 meter dash.
“Masaya ako kasi napakita ko yung pinaghirapan ko sa training,” said Labar, who admitted he didn’t expect to win after having some moments of hesitation at the start of the race.
“Dikitan po eh. Na-delay po kasi ako sa start. Akala ko false start,” he added.
Labar’s time actually set a new meet record in Batang Pinoy after also earlier bagging the gold mint in the 200m and 400m events.
Solomon settled for the silver with a time of 10.84 sec, same as third placer Prince Cuyos who dropped to bronze due to an inferior wind velocity.
On the distaff side, Franceine Jhobie Del Rosario crowned herself as this year’s edition’s sprint queen after narrowly beating her teammate Lhynnette Libranda for a 1-2 finish for Manila in the girls u18 100m race.
Del Rosario clocked 12.05 sec to also pick up his third gold in athletics after also winning the 200m and 400m races.
Libranda was just a split second short of the gold with her 12:09 time for the silver while Hazel May Resma of Binan finished third with a 12:38 time.
In the boys U16 100m race, Zabdiel Chavaria of Sorsogon finished the race in just 11.17 sec to claim the gold while Psalm Eugene Pampag of Bacolod topped the girls race in 12.51 sec.
Over at the pool, hometown bet Christian Isaiah Lagnason was reduced to tears after being disqualified in the 12-13 boy 200m butterfly race due to a false start.
Lagnason, who already had three golds – all of which he claimed in record-breaking fashion, looked to be on his way to another stellar showing after clocking 2:16.36 – almost four seconds clear of his closest pursuer – only to be nullified by the crucial blunder.
“The rule infringed is, there was a minor movement between the moment of the take your mark and the buzzer, which allegedly disqualified him from the race” said one of Lagnason’s coaches Nick Dacera who appealed the decision but was ultimately denied as James De Guzman of Bataan claimed the top honor with a time of 2:20.75.
The setback denied him the chance to match Garra and Cruz’s four gold medals each – the most by any swimmer so far.
Cruz clocked a meet record of 1:07.93 time to claim his fourth gold in the girls 16-17 100m backstroke while Garra also reset a record with her 1:06.60 time in the girls 12-13 100m backstroke.
They caught up with Nuche Veronica Ibit of Aklan who claimed his fourth gold a day ago.
Also joining them with four golds is Patricia Mae Santor of Manila, who clocked 2:23.37 to rule the girls 16-17 200m butterfly.
With the success of Manila in athletics and swimming, the capital city has sneaked past Baguio in the medal tally as of 5 p.m. on Wednesday.
Manila now has 19 golds, 16 silvers and 14 bronzes while Baguio has 18 golds, 12 silvers and 16 bronzes.
Pasig City now comes in third with 17 golds, 12 silvers and 19 bronzess followed by Quezon City (15-16-17) and Zamboanga City (11-7-3) to round out the Top 5.
