CAPAS, Tarlac – Hussein Loraña narrowly missed a new national mark in ruling the men’s 800-meter race while the KG Mercuries, led by former national sprinter Anfernee Lopena, sprang out of nowhere to rule the men’s 4×100-meter relay on the penultimate day of the ICTSI Philippine Athletic Championships Saturday night here.
In another event-filled day at the New Clark City Athletic Stadium, the Thailand SEAG gold medalist came from behind in the last 100 meters to surge past erstwhile frontrunner Oyam Kent Espinosa in checking in at one minute and 48.39 seconds. He was just .87 of a second off the seven-year-old national standard of 1:47.52 set by Fil-Am Carter Lilly on April 19, 2019 at the Bryan Clay International in Azusa, California in the meet presented by the Philippines Sports Commission, BCDA and New Clark City.
It was the third men’s 800-meter title for the former UAAP Season 86 MVP in the athletic showcase.
A two-time SEA Games men’s 100-meter bronze medalist, Lopena led off for a strong start for the KG Mercuries, which was sustained by second and third runners Vicjardi Tapia and Ralp Anthony Lego.
It was left for PRISAA track standout Kent Paul Burdan as the anchor leg to bring the gold home in a victorious time of 40.56 seconds
Pinoy Athletics settled for silver (40.57) while the national team (40.70) was relegated to bronze.
But the night did not go well for the national women quartet of Lauren Hoffman, Kristina Knott, Jessica Laurance and Lianne Diane Palma after the squad was disqualified for a faulty hand-off from Knott to Laurance.
Malaysia secured gold (45.63), UST got silver (48.62) and La Salle-Taft (48.90) in a 1-2-3 finish in the women’s 4×100-meter relay
Fil-Am Sydney Joshua Yap heaved the hammer throw to a personal best of 50.65 meters for his first gold in the meet after taking runner-up honors in the previous edition.
Aided by closest foe John Celestino Romero’s failure to score in the pole vault, Janry Ubas completed a golden double in scoring 6,440 points in capturing mint in the the grueling decathlon.
Under the banner of the Philippine Vault Club, Romero got the silver (5,865) and UST’s Rolly Royo bronze (5,634) in the 10-event discipline.
Early Sunday morning, Sonny Wagdos and Artjoy Torregosa, who competed in a 21k road race of the Manila Marathon the previous day, still had enough energy spare in topping the men’s and women’s 10,000-meter runs, respectively.
