Niños start strong in CVIRAA

TAGBILARAN CITY - Defending champion Cebu City Niños pulled ahead of the pack as they grabbed as many points they can at the start of the 2006 Central Visayas Regional Athletic Association (CVIRAA) Meet here.

In the unofficial medal count, Cebu City now stands with six golds, six silvers and a bronze in the secondary level and five golds, three silvers and a bronze in the elementary division.

Applying the 'points system,' the Niños jumped on top of the heap with 79 points.

Accounting for two of Cebu City's five golds yesterday was Diane Caneda, who also took a silver in the relay event.

Caneda topped the 200m backstroke and 200m breaststroke. She settled for silver in the 4x 50 m medley relay together with Gwencent Canada, Claudine Candia and Judenia Brand.

John Solon also performed what was expected of him by plucking a gold through the 100m breaststroke and two silvers through the 200m individual medley and 200 backstroke.

The Niños also had a golden finish in the 4x50m relay courtesy of Michael David Vega, Mattheus Caesar Galo, Jeffrey Yana and Noel Caneda.

Cebu City got its fifth gold via the athletics events, thanks to Stephanie Sanino who topped the shotput competition, even as Marjorie Sy settled for silver in high jump.

The sixth gold came from Carlo Ceniza, who dominated the men's artistic gymnastics floor exercises with 7.45 points. His teammate Kenan Diamante had the silver with 7.35 poins, while Mandaue's Charlie Ebajo settled for the bronze with 7.15 points.

In the elementary division, the Ninos' athletics squad got a gold, silver and bronze.

Leslie Ann Abad won the girls shotput, while Christopher Yao bagged the silver in the boys division. Charlene Oyatan settled for silver in high jump.

In swimming, Cebu City's Heisler Entote grabbed the gold in the 50 m backstroke, while teammates Jethro Ko and Patricia Slon handed a silver each via the 50m breaststroke.

The Niños swept the golds in the 4x50m relay with the good combination of Alla Ababon, Christine Sesante, Patricia Solon, and Alexandra Valderama in the girls class and Hesler Entote, Jethro Ko, Edgar Allan Jarina and Jebb Cane in the boys side.

Allen Kit Castañeda made his CVIRAA a memorable won as he claimed the gold in the MAG's floor exercises with 6.9 points. He defeated Mandaue's Cendric Mendoza.

In the overall standings, Bais is a far second in the secondary division with 16 points and Mandaue third with 13 points, so far.Mandaue ranked second in the elementary division with 10 points and Cebu Province third with five points.

Other Results

Jacob Lagman barged into the semifinal round of elementary boys singles with impressive over Dumaguete's Eric Bernard Florendo, 8-0, and Oriental Negros' Arvin dela Pena via the same decision.

In football, Cebu City's elementary and secondary bets silenced their respective opponents.

The elementary kicking Niños posted a 2-0 win against the Cebu Province behind the efforts of Winrich Nino Cablay and Rikko Cedric de Guzman, while in the secondary level, Roy Joseph Sembrano and John Paul Aranguez powered Cebu City to a 2-0 shutout.

The other results saw Dumaguete earning a 3-2 win against Talisay City and Cebu Province beating Tagbilaran City, 1-0, and OrNeg outlasting Tanjay, 1-0, in the elementary action.

In sepak takraw, Bohol leads with two wins, while Cebu City won its first game against Mandaue, 2-0. Mandaue has a 1-1 win-loss card.