Boholano breaks Central Visaya’s jinx in athletics

Boholano Joey Raotraot broke the spell that hounded Central Visayas in athletics event of the 2008 Private Schools Athletic Association (PRISA) National Games by topping the men’s pole vault yesterday at the Joaquin Enriquez Memorial Sports Complex in Zamboanga City.

Raotraot, a BS Criminology student of Bohol Institute of Technology-International College (BIT-IC), became an instant hero even just in his first try.

The 24-year-old Raotraot said the gold medal came as a surprise for him as he was not able to go through an actual competition for four years now.

Earlier in the day, PRISAA-VII suffered another setback in athletics when Haren Mellindez of the University of Southern Philippines Foundation (USPF) sustained an injury while doing the hurdles.

Before the injury though, Mellindez handed over a bronze in 110m hurdles. He also powered the region’s 4 x 100m relay team to a silver finish along with UC’s Anthony Santillan, George Pinanonang and Arsenio Codilla.

Santillan also came up with a silver in the century dash as Southwestern University’s Leo Abello  claimed a silver in 5K walkathon. Kid Dignos settled for bronze in the 10K walkathon, while Jefferson Quirubin grabbed his second bronze in discus throw.

In swimming, the Central Visayas tankers remained without a gold after two days of action. They only salvaged three bronze medals, so far, the latest was via the women’s 4 x 100m relay.

In basketball, the University of San Carlos (USC)-powered men’s team dumped Region II,107-80, for its third straight victory in as many games, but its women’s counterpart bowed to host Zamboanga, 68-87.

In volleyball, Central Visayas stayed on a roll, with its men’s squad crushing Northern Mindanao in straight sets, 25-19, 25-22, 25-20 and its women’s bet whipping Region X, 25-17, 25-6, 25-4.