S Tagalog, Cebu aces spark swim gold rush

CEBU CITY , Philippines – Southern Tagalog tankers and Cebuana Loren Dale Echavez dominated the first day of swimming as action in the 2012 Private Schools Athletic Association National Collegiate Games got under way yesterday at the Cebu City Sports Center here.

Led by triple gold medalists Rabino Wilson and Jerome Magallanes, Region 4-A captured eight of the 16 finals while Echavez, carrying the colors of Central Visayas, swept the women’s 200 and 50-meter freestyle to kick off her ambitious bid of sweeping all her eight events in the meet.

A freshman student at La Salle-Dasmariñas, Magallanes, 17, topped the men’s 100-m breaststroke (1:13.4) and the 400-m individual medley (5:39.86) while Wilson, a third-year University of Perpetual Help-Laguna student, topped the men’s 200 free (2:13.99) and 50 free (25.84) for their individual golds.

Magallanes and Wilson then secured their third gold medals by teaming up with Roque Hizola and Julius Rarela by ruling the men’s 200 medley relay in 2:02.03.

Diminutive Jackelyn Orig of the Saint Anne College-Lucena shared the spotlight with her male teammates in topping women’s 200 butterfly (2:43.16) and 400 IM (5:56.61), while Andrea Fuentes, Cherilyn Jurado, Erleane Medina and Helyna Magallanes capped Southern Tagalog’s mighty show in winning the women’s 400 freestyle relay (4:51.00).

Easily the swimmer to watch in the women’s division, Echavez, who won seven golds and a silver in last year’s PRISAA Games, did not disappoint her hometown fans as the third-year BS Biology University of San Carlos student stamped her class in winning both her individual events.

She ruled the women’s 200 free in 2:15.68, more than 20 seconds ahead of runner-up Jurado of Southern Tagalog (2:36.00), and added the 50 free in 28.06 to handily prevail over Western Visayas’ Reynalisa Catapang (31.36).

“I want to sweep my eight events this year and with the help of my teammates, I think I can do it,” said Echavez in Filipino.

Western Visayas’ Edsel Pasaporte also bagged two golds in the day as he topped the men’s 100 backstroke (1:09.84) and 4x50 freestyle relay (4:08.24).

In athletics, Davao (Region XI) made its presence felt early as Michael Ian Constantino and Charito Bajuyo retained their titles in the men’s 1,500 and women’s high jump, respectively.

Constantino, 22, who competes for Brokenshire College in Koronadal, South Cotabato, captured the men’s 1,500 gold in 4:01.2 while Bajuyo, who studies at the University of Mindanao Davao, cleared 1.58 meters in securing the high jump gold.

La Salle Dasmariñas bet Jerome Oclaret of Region 4-A likewise kept his men’s shot put crown with a heave of 12.26 meters while Jerly Bornales of Western Visayas (Region 6) ruled the women’s 1,500 meters for the second year in a row (4:57.2), nipping Cordillera Autonomous Region’s Divina Kitongan in a dead heat.

In early ball game results, Central Luzon (Region 3) nosed out Western Visayas (Region 6), 59-57, Davao routed Mimaropa (Region 4-B), 94-18, and Central Luzon edged Western Visayas, 59-57, at the start of women’s basketball.