Rosales rips track mark; Two swimmers bag sixth gold

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• Rosales rips track mark; Two swimmers bag sixth gold

DAPITAN CITY—Sprint champion Jenny Rose Rosales of Calabarzon shattered the girls’ secondary 400-meter run record even as two sixth graders captured their sixth swimming golds yesterday in the Palarong Pambansa here.

The 16-year-old Rosales, who topped the 100m dash Wednesday, timed 57.33 seconds, smashing the  record of 58.01 set by Jonah Genilsa of National Capital Region in 1998 in Bacolod City. 

“She had been beating her toughest rivals in the heats, that’s why we were sure she could win,”  said  coach Ernesto Montero of the speedy girl from Barangay Palahanan, San Juan, Batangas, who will go for a third gold in the 200 meters today. 

Catherine Bondad of San Pablo, Laguna and Metro Manila’s Mark Joseph Rominquit became the winningest swimmers with six golds each to share the limelight with NCR’s Gabriel Castelo, who broke the secondary boys’ 100m butterfly mark.

Castelo clocked 58.13 to improve his own mark of 59.07 he set last year.

Bondad of San Pablo, Laguna, prevailed in the 400m freestyle (54.85 seconds) for victory No. 6 while Rominquit matched that effort by topping the 50m backstroke (31.07).

Bondad, who gave Calabarzon its 19th swim gold, three more than NCR, and Rominquit will go for their seventh title in the relays today.

Bondad rued the lack of opposition as she came close to breaking her own record of 4:54.55.

Also shining for Calabarzon was Francis May Pillado who tied the record of 1:09.90 in ruling the girls’ elementary 100m butterfly.

Ralph Efraem Gesulgon of Western Visayas, already the gold medalist in shot put and javelin, took his third gold medal in a tie with John Arvin Gomez of Calabarzon in the boys’ high jump.
Both cleared 1.85 meters—just 0.05m short of the record—and decided to share top honors.

Also missing a record by a hair was ARMM’s Romnick Nor, who topped the boys’ secondary 100m dash in 10.99 seconds. The old mark is 10.90m. 

Over at the Northern Mindanao Institute covered courts, Western Visayas captured three gold medals in elementary arnis while Cordillera Autonomous Region secured five golds in taekwondo’s poomsae event. 

Dave Talamor and Regie Diaresco bagged the anyo team synchronized mixed double identical weapon top honor before leading Chrisjel Cillador and Relen Faith Navarro to the ATSMDW team gold in arnis.

Kirby Dreyfus Bularan topped Group A in boys’ elementary of poomsae, while Angelica Joyce Gaw won in Group B in girls’ elementary before leading their respective squads to team victories.