Team Phl snares 3 more golds: Rider, relay team, lady jin triumph

NAY PYI TAW – With one explosion of speed, Archand Christian Bagsit chased the Thai anchor man, overhauled a two-meter lead and stormed home to a golden finish in the 4x400 meter relay team ending athletic competitions in the 27th Southeast Asian Games yesterday at the Wunnum Theikdi National Sports Complex.

Bagsit, who earlier ruled the 3,000m steeplechase, was two strides behind when he took the stick from third runner Julius Nierras but he soon caught up with the Thai runner in the final bend.

They matched stride for stride until the last 50 meters when he poured it all in to claim the gold for the Philippine relay team.

“Even if we have to throw up, we’ll fight – this is our gold medal,” said Bagsit in between gasps after he crossed the finish line.

The Philippines took the gold in 3:09.36 with Thailand second in 3:09.81.

The Indonesian anchor was running third when he was bumped by a Malaysian runner in the last 20 meters. The Malaysian picked himself up first and finished with the bronze in 3:15.06.

At the end of athletic competitions, the Philippines finished with six gold medals, including the golden efforts by Henry Dagmil in the long jump, Bagsit in the 400m run, Jesson Ramil Cid in the decathlon, Christopher Ulboc Jr in the 300m steeplechase and Eric Cray in the 400m hurdles.

Even as it fell one gold short of the projection, American strength and conditioning Ryan Flaherty said the team has improved a lot and he looks forward to another chance to train the team for the Asian Games.

“I would like to talk again the Philippine Sports Commission about a long-range program for the team, something that will extend to the Asian Games and Olympic Games,” he said.

Ulboc, a University of Oklahoma standout, lost his bid for a second gold medal after placing sixth in the men’s 110m hurdles. The Filipino-American who was born in Olongapo City, clocked 14.34 seconds in a race that was won by Thailand’s Jamras Rittidet.

In the men’s 1500m, Mervin Guarte placed fourth with a time of 3:58.48 while Ulboc finished seventh out of eight runners with a clocking of 4:05.76.

“I was still bothered by the plantar injury which I had been nursing the last three months. My coaches knew about it but the physical therapist could only do so much,” said Guarte, San Sebastian College’s star in the NCAA.

“I tried hard to win the gold medal in the 800 m but I’m just happy to win the silver. Today the pain aggravated, but I had to compete and hopefully win a medal, but the pain was just too much,” he added.

After the Christmas break, Guarte said he will be back on the tracks to prepare for the NCAA athletic competitions in February.

Jessica Barnard, meanwhile, finished last in the women’s 1500m run with a time of 4:22.64.