Teeners, veterans share triathlon honors

MANILA, Philippines - A mix of young and veteran triathletes emerged overall winners in the men’s and women’s divisions of the 2009 annual Vitwater Animo Sprint Triathlon held early yesterday morning inside the plush Ayala Alabang Village in Muntinlupa.

Up and coming triathlete Bryan Nikko Huelgas, 18, recent winner of the Speedo-Camaya Point aquathlon, and veteran campaigner Japanese expatriate Hiroshi Takei , 37, were the men’s division overall champions in the 350m.swim-11K bike-3.2K run mini sprint triathlon and the 950m.swim-30K bike-6.9K run sprint triathlon, clocking 41:03 and 1:39.01, respectively.

The women’s side saw another teener, Johanna Pe Benito, 16, winner of the recent junior sprint triathlon event at the last Subic International Triathlon, and 25-year-old Maridel Manaban winning their respective divisions in the sprint and mini sprint triathlon events. Pe Benito, from De La Salle-Zobel, negotiated the distance in 1:58.30 while Manaban clocked 59.41 in the shorter distance event.

But the biggest winners in the fund-raising race, organized by the Sunkist Tri Club and the De la Salle Cares, led by La Salle Greenhills Class ‘81 in cooperation with the Triathlon Association of the Philippines (TRAP), were the poor kids of Bagac, Bataan and the La Salle-run St. Jaime Hilario Integrated School as they were the beneficiaries of the funds to be raised from the event.

“I am very happy that a lot of people are not just into sports for the physical fitness part of it but also for other causes like this fund-raising for educational scholarships for poor kids. Every P5000 raised is equivalent to a year’s education for a kid here in our school. Our target is to have at least 20 percent of all students in all La Salle schools to be scholars, “ said St. Jaime Hilarion Integrated School director Bro. Ricky Laguda, who also thanked the event’s sponsors, Sunkist, Vitwater, Swift, and Selecta, David’s Salon, Gold’s Gym, Belo Essentials, Ayala Alabang Village Association, and De La Salle Zobel.