Cebu’s best

CEBU CITY — This writer was invited by the Sportswriters Association of Cebu to be the keynote speaker at their annual awards night at the City Sports Club Friday. It is the 22nd year that this fete, sponsored by San Miguel Corporation, has brought together the greatest athletes from the Queen City of the South.

What startled me was not only the sheer number of athletes and sports journalists present, but the accomplishments that they had racked up in an amazing 2003.

In adventure racing, Leo Oracion (who was in competing in Tagaytay on the occasion of the awards), was cited for his emerging champion in the first-ever solo adventure race in the Philippines, the 2003 Negros Survival of the Fittest Outdoor Adventure Race. He was also a part of the Team Philippines which finished the AXN Eco-Challenge in New Zealand, and his teams are consistently in the top three in the most technically challenging race of its kind in the Philippines, the Carrera Habagat.

In athletics, Christy Sevillano received the award for her sport for being the first Cebuana to place in the Milo Marathon national finals in over a decade. She finished third. Team Cebu was also recognized for finishing third overall in the National Track and Field Open held in Manila.

In a sport seldom heard of in the NCR, horse barrel racing, JP Remedio finished second overall in the expert category of both barrel and oval races in the Philippine Horsemen Federation series. In basketball, the University of the Visayas Green Lancers, coached by former PBA All-Star Boy Cabahug, won a grand slam in the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. or CESAFI. Ronald Joseph Quiñahan, who also plays for Skygo in the Cebu Basketball Federation (fondly called "Baby Shaq" by friends and fans in the south) was given a trophy for being named Most Valuable Player in the CESAFI tertiary division. The CBF itself was acknowledged for having played a record 170 games in the 2003 season. Reed Friar Juntilla, one of a growing number of PBl draftees, also received an award for being MVP of the CBF.

For bowling, Ed Aniñon and Edmund San Jose were feted for having scored rare perfect games in the Bowlingplex Tenpin Association events. Boxing scored well, too, as Team Cebu City was overall champion in the National Open Youth Amateur Boxing Championships. Mandaue City was hailed as champions of the Central Visayas Regional Athletics Association (CVIRAA) Meet, and also topped the Visayas Inter-City Developmental Boxing Championships.

Dancesport was the biggest winner of the night, as Team Cebu City Dancesports was the most bemedalled team in the 2003 Dancesport Council of the Philippines Mid-year Ranking event in Pasig, and became the most bemedalled team in fourth National Dancesport Quarterly Rankings, as well.

In golf, Janjan Ybañez was cited for being the most outstanding golfer of Cebu, while Matteo Guidicelli took the trophy for karting. Niño Surban was champion, men’s elite in the National Open Mountainbike Championships, and thus earned an SAC recognition, too.

In table tennis, Emmanuel Motel Jr. emerged champion of the 20-Under category in the President’s Cup National Table Championships, and was a member of the RP team that participated in the Southeast Asian Junior Table Tennis Championships.

For the grueling sport of triathlon, Eldy Banluta was hailed Most Outstanding Male Athlete in the 2003 National Age-Group Triathlon Series, while Mylene Jarina was Most Outstanding Female Athlete in the same event. Nonoy Jopson was also recognized for being last year’s Enduraman champion in Subic. He is also the holder of the Philippine record for triathlon. For practical shooting, young Sandino Cinco received a trophy from the SAC.

For the Special Olympics, Arnold Balais was gold medalist in National Bench Press Open, is a multi-awarded swimmer, and has represented the country in the Paralympic Games, held after the quadrennial Olympics. He was joined by Elma Bacaro, most outstanding lifter in the secondary division in the Nat’l Open 5-in-1 Championships, and most outstanding lifter in the 2003 Visayas Regional Championships. Also coming up onstage were Kelle Kay Rojas, first-placer in the youth division of the National Open 5-in-1 Championships; and Emily Rosas, first-placer in the women’s open category of the National Open 5-in-1 Championships. Daniel Catingub finished first in the men’s division of the National Open 5-in-1 Championships, while Joselito Padilla topped the junior division. I’ll list the major awardees in an upcoming piece, as well.

In his closing remarks, SAC president and Cebu Daily News sports editor Rick Gabuya thanked the athletes for providing such compelling stories from 2003. Although many challenges lay ahead of them (most notably politics and the occasional discrimination from Manila-based sports officials), they outdid themselves in 2003. Gabuya echoed my sentiments that we are, at heart, storytellers and fans, who have a courtside seat to history and human achievement showing its limitless potential.

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