Moreno, Ynot Jra streak to 3rd Li'l Olympics gold

LINGAYEN, Philippines – Long-distance ace John Rey Moreno and Perlita Ynot Jra streaked to their third golden wins in athletics as National Capital Region braced for a showdown with defending champion Visayas in the third National Milo Little Olympics at the Narciso Ramos Sports and Civic Center here.

Moreno, 16, topped the 3,000-m steeplechase with a time of 10:01.11 seconds yesterday, a victory that came on the heels of his golden feats in the 1,500-m (4:18.61) and 5,000-m (17:25.17) runs in the secondary boys division last Saturday.

“I’m very happy and all my hard work bore fruit,” said Moreno, an Immaculate Concepcion Academy standout, whose bid for a fourth gold was dashed when the NCR 4x100-m relay was relegated to second by Visayas.

Ynot Jra, who ruled the secondary girls’ long jump event on Saturday, dominated the triple jump (11.04 meters) and provided ample support as the NCR team topped the 4x400-m relay in four minutes, 12.11 seconds, way ahead of Visayas (4:23.10) and Mindanao (4:26.61).

Winner of the 800-m run in the secondary class, Rocena Chua snatched another gold in the 400-m hurdles while Marian Audrey Yorac clinched the high jump crown with a 1.43 meter mark and Jenelyn Arle recorded 30.91 meters to clinch the javelin throw title for the NCR, which also got another top finish in triple jump courtesy of John Lanuza (13.36).

The Big City tankers also dominated the boys’ and girls’ divisions with St. Jude’s Joshua Ching wining the 100-m and 200-backstroke and 400-m medley relays.

Visayas pressed its bid for a third straight overall crown by ruling the secondary boys’ athletics contest with Roy Villahermosa coming up big in the 400-m hurdles (58.77 seconds) and in the 400-m run (52.60).