Central Visayan teener rips 16-year discus mark

ILOILO – A Central Visayan teener broke the 16-year old mark in discus throw, the second oldest record in Palarong Pambansa, in the worthiest performance submitted so far that took some of the luster from the golden stints of rivals National Capital Region and Western Visayas yesterday.

Clifford John Bonjoc, 17, heaved the disc to 41.62 meters, copping his first gold medal after frustrating bids in shot put and javelin events, in the process breaking the 37.16 record posted by Tomas Yutuc in the 1989 Palaro in Lucena City.

The sturdy youth from Basak, Mambaling, Cebu City broke the meet’s second oldest record on his second attempt, leaving only the javelin mark of Almina Bayot established in 1988 in Cagayan de Oro as the only record unscathed in the meet.

"Hindi ako nawalan ng pag-asa dahil pinaghandaan ko talaga ang event na ito," said Bonjoc.

NCR’s Javier Gomez and Western Visayas’ Gustil Pido also surpassed the record with 38.69 and 38.65 but settled for the silver and bronze medals, respectively.

Western Visayas, meanwhile, kept its hot streak in the track and field events and NCR maintained its supremacy in the pool.

The local bets hauled down three more gold medals in Day 3 thanks to Luville Dato-on in long jump, Marlon Arlos in the 400-m hurdles and Emmanuel de Ocampo in the centerpiece 100-m run.

Dato-on, a daughter of tricycle driver, unleashed a strong final leap to stun Maricel Mariano of Calabarzon and Rhemilyn Soriano of Ilocos Region with a jump of 5.28 meters.

Mariano, a 15-year-old back-to-back long jump champion in the National Open, was leading with a 5.26 going into the sixth and final jump before Dato-on, only a sophomore in San Enrique National High, came through with the clincher. Soriano finished third with a 5.24.

Arlos breached the 59.2-second mark by Dioniso Maloto in the 1997 Pili edition with a 57.1 before de Ocampo hiked the host’s athletics total to seven with a triumph in the century dash.

Western Visayas also made gains in taekwondo as it raked in two gold medals, the same number won by Cordillera Administrative Region, Central Mindanao and Calabarzon at the Gaisano Mall.

Elmie Rose Baradas topped the secondary featherweight event while Rubylyn Mapa made it a two gold-haul for the host region in the lightweight division.

CAR got its wins from Bonifacio Genove (feather) and Dexter Cabradilla (light), Calabarzon from Taytay City, Rizal neighbors George Barberona (fin) and Sandy Canino (fly), and Central Mindanao from Milagros Espinas (fin) and Sheena Mae Perlas (welter).

NCR could only come up with a gold through Kimberly Mae Menchavez in the bantamweight class of the event.

Other winners were Central Luzon’s Ana Monica Dianelo (fly), Mimaropa’s Domingo Rico Jr. (bantam), and Northern Mindanao’s Jheli Rhadamanthus Inciong (welter).

In secondary girls’ volleyball, NCR bucked a hostile home crowd to trounce Western Visayas, 25-18, 25-22, and barge into the championship round. But the host contingent bounced back with a 3-0 win over CAR in secondary football. CARAGA demolished Ilocos, 3-0, in the other game.

Davao Region, the overall titlist in the 2003 edition in Tubod, Lanao del Norte in the absence of NCR and Western Visayas, made its move in boxing as it sent Alfred Deano (vacuum), F. Saludar (pin) and A.B. Cali (light fly) to the semifinals.

Deano floored David Paclay of CAR with just 59 seconds left in the first round, Saludar edged M. Lerio of the NCR, 12-5, on points, and Cali retired J. Casimiro of Eastern Visayas in the fourth round.