Ilocos Norte IRAA champ anew

DAGUPAN CITY, Philippines – For the 10th year, Ilocos Norte dominated the week-long Ilocos Region Athletic Association (IRAA) meet which ended here Friday.

Ilocos Norte, whose sports program is supervised by former Project: Gintong Alay executive director Michael Keon, garnered 660.17 points to take the overall title.

Pangasinan II placed second with 395 points while Pangasinan I was third with 378.

Dagupan, notching 150 points, landed seventh among 14 divisions, mainly driven by the gold haul ushered in by the secondary division events in basketball and taekwondo – teams made up of female athletes.

The Department of Education gave Dagupan a rousing approval of the city’s over-all planning, management and organization of the IRAA Meet.

In his remarks before local officials, regional education executives, division superintendents and sports officials during the welcome fellowship night, Education Secretary Jesli Lapus lauded host Mayor Alipio Fernandez Jr. and the people of Dagupan City for organizing “the best IRAA meet worth remembering in the coming years”.

Dr. Ligaya Soledad Miguel, regional director of the Department of Education, and thirteen division superintendents also rated Dagupan’s over-all preparation as “superb” – Eva Vesperas