New triathlon stars rise in national age group tiff

MANILA, Philippines - New faces hogged the limelight in yesterday’s fifth leg of the Speedo National Age Group Triathlon Series held at the Narra Park inside Ayala Alabang Village in Muntinlupa.

A total of 210 triathletes competed in the mini-sprint and sprint distance race with 70 either beginners or second-timers.

From the list of second-timers rose the names of Brian Borling, Philip Atento and Mark Anthony Hosana, who ruled their respective divisions in the sprint race organized by Triathlon Association of the Philippines (TRAP) and presented by Speedo with Ayala Alabang Village Association as host.

Borling, a 22-year-old from Cagayan de Oro, topped the 20-24 age group in the the 950-m swim, 30-k bike and 6.5-k run spring distance in one hour, 39 minutes, 28 seconds with splits of 16:21, 51:39, 31:28.

Borling, a bike mechanic training with the nationals in Subic Bay, overpowered Marnel Arnold Ratio (2:07:21) and Gregorio Jaci Mantaring (2:12).

The 30-year-old Atento and the 18-year-old Hosana who are members of the first ever Cam Sur Tri-team that competed in a TRAP-sanctioned race, topped the 30-34 and 16-19 age group.

Atento, 47th overall in the first Philippine Ironman 70.3 last August at Camarines Sur, clocked 1:36:07 (19:39, 45:57, 30:31) to win by a mile against Joseph Victor Basa (2:00:18) and Ronald De Leon (2:03:06).

“Our Governor Elrey Villafuerte is very much supportive of triathlon after CamSur’s hosting of the 70.3 and we are now working closely with TRAP so we can join most if not all of their races,” said CamSur sports consultant and team manager Dr. Lucita Ano.

Rajiv Srivastava, general manager of Speedo Philippines, was on hand to witness the race and expressed his elation over the turnout of participants in the event also supported by David’s Salon.

“The emergence of new young faces is a positive sign that triathlon is growing in the country. We’re very happy with our partnership with TRAP and will continue to support their programs,” said Srivastava.

Other age group winners were Reymark Dabu (25-29), Kirk Arambulo (40-44), Greg Banzon (45-49), and Philip Rynn (50-over) in the male sprint and Anne Catherii Hernandez (20-9), Nicole De Guzman (30-39) and Betsy Medalla (40-49) in the female division.

Sprint winners were Francisco Jose Santos (13-15), Nikko Bryant Huelgas (16-19) and Dexter Lorenzo (adult) in the male and Joey Santos (13-15) and Jennifer Fajardo (adult).