Niños rule CVIRAA Meet but Mandaue tames Cebu City in secondary basketball and football

DUMAGUETE CITY , Philippines  — As expected, Cebu City reigned supreme in the 2012 Central Visayas Regional Athletic Association (CVIRAA) Meet, but the Niños couldn't celebrate fully as they suffered crushing blows from Mandaue in secondary basketball and football events at the end of the five-day joust yesterday.

Cebu City bagged its 20th consecutive overall championship in the annual sports conclave among elementary and high school athletes  with 870.34 points followed by Cebu Province with 471.51 points and Mandaue with 326.5 points. Bohol Province and host Dumaguete settled at fourth and fifth with 238.25 and 191.25 points, respectively.

The final two golds of Cebu City came from the secondary girls 4x400m relay team of Camylle Mosota, Crizel Diongson and Elyzza Salinas and the elementary boys squad of Stephen Pekit-Pekit, Kurt Matas and Antonio Czar Octaviano.

Completing the list of gold medallists for Team Cebu City in the final day of action were Dominic Matas in the 400m run, Ralph So in the 800m run and Christian Cabillon in the 110m hurdles.

Cebu Province also finished strong in the last day of track and field events as Jacqueline Montebon notched two golds in the elementary girls 200m and 400m runs with time of 28.69sec and 1:05.16. Isadora Gabay also contributed two golds for the Province in the 800m run with a time of 2:33.99 and in the 1,500m run with a 5:13.86 clocking.

Though it placed only third overall, Mandaue stole huge part of the spotlight after it trounced Cebu City in basketball events.

Mandaue, powered by players from Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu, shackled the University of the Visayas (UV)-manned Cebu City, 90-65, to claim the secondary boys basketball gold. The Cebu City cagebelles bounced back though in the girls division with a 56-33 rout of Mandaue.

In football, Mandaue, also composed of SHS-Ateneo booters, edged out the Don Bosco Technology Center (DBTC)-manned Cebu City, 1-0. The Niños, however, came back in the elementary battle with a 4-0 shutout of Mandaue.

Mandaue also won the gold in the secondary volleyball after  bested the Southwestern University (SWU) belles, while Catmon Elementary School gave Cebu Province another gold after beating Bohol Province.

Talisay City grabbed part of the limelight after three of its pugilists won gold in boxing. They were Lariosa John Mark (30-32 kgs.), Marco Pumar (42-44 kgs.) and Kit Garces (44-46 kgs.).

Cebu City’s lone gold medallist is Junrel Jimenez in the 46-49 kgs. division, while Melmark Dignos chipped in one gold for Lapu-Lapu City in the 49-52 kgs. category. (FREEMAN)