Stuart emerges triple gold winner

STA. CRUZ, Laguna--Fil-Am Caleb Stuart capped his amazing performance by dominating discus throw to emerge a triple gold medal winner as the National Open-Invitational Athletics Championships drew to a close at the Laguna Sports Complex here on Sunday.

Stuart, 24, handily took the gold with a heave of 48.17 meters, besting Team Rio's Joel Santamina and Jose Rizal's John Albert Mantua, who registered 40.87m and 39.10m to settle for the silver and bronze medals, respectively.

It was the third gold for the 6-2, 250-pound Stuart after blowing away the competition in shot put and hammer throw right in the inaugurals last Thurday where he officially booked a spot for the national team bound for the 28th Southeast Asian Games set June 5-19 in Singapore.

Stuart though thinks there is still room for improvement.

"I'm happy that I won all my three events but I'm not satisfied with my performance," said Stuart, a former University of California-Riverside standout who was accompanied by his Filipina mother Rowena Pineda-Stuart and American father John Stuart.

Truly, Stuart wasn't able to surpass his personal bests in all three events.
He threw a 64.81 in hammer throw--his pet event--that came short of his personal best 64.81m, which obliterated his old personal best of 67.24m, the current Southeast Asian Games record of 62.23m by Thai Tantipong Petchaiya and the stagnant national mark of 61.69m by Arniel Ferrera.

Stuart was also a little bit off in shot put where he leapt to a 16.52m that is a far cry from his personal best 17.88m, the SEAG record of 17.64m by another Thai Thawin Khachin and the national mark of 16.74m by Eliezer Sunang.

In discus throw, the least of all his three events, Stuart failed to surpass his personal best of 49.98m.
Stuart though vowed to make ammends come SEAG where he is eyeing no less than two golds.

"I will return to the United States and spend the next few months leading to the SEA Games to train with my coach," said Stuart referring to hammer throw specialist Shaun McGinney.

"Hopefully by that time I'll be 100-percent ready to win those two gold medals I'm aiming for," he added.
Ernest John Obiena was likewise untouchable in his pet event as he beat all comers in men's pole vault and winning the gold in 5.00m flat ahead of Leyte Sports Academy-Perpetual Help's Johnrey Mabuyao (4.30m) and his father, former SEAG gold medal winner Emerson Obiena (4.20m).

The 19-year-old Obiena, who has grown to 6-1, attempted to eclipse the national record of 5.21m he posted in the weekly relays late last year by jumping 5.22m.

But in three attempts, the University of Santo Tomas standout failed to cross the bar after complaining of a soft pole and wet tracks caused by heavy morning rains.

"If I had a stiffer, longer pole, I would have broken the record," said Obiena, who belongs to a family of athletes as his uncle Edward is a former national decathlete.

Cristy Ann Subaste of TMS Ship Agencies clocked 2:44:17.64 to cop the women's 20,000-m walk ahead of Team Titus' Jacqueline Tanawit (2:49:53.72) and Melinda delos Reyes (2:16:13.12).

In women's discus throw, University of Santo Tomas' Jessah Fernandez reigned supreme in 33.55m, besting Kabankalan's Devy Isda (32.66m) and Air Force's Kenneth Grace Ferrera (27.54m).

National team mainstay Archand Christian Bagsit took the 200m gold in 21.72 seconds to add to his 400m triumph the day before.

Like Bagsit, Mervin Guarte, a silver medal winner in the 2013 Myanmar SEAG, won the 1500m mint in 3:54.58 ahead of Sonny Wahdos (3:55.72) and PLDT's Rudyfer Hernandez (3:58.47).

Rosie Villarito also made her presence felt by ruling javelin in 46.60m, beating Fare Easter University's Evalyn Palabrica (43.95m) and Army's Geralyn Amandoron (37.04m).

Fil-Am Marissa Smith captured her first gold in 1500-m in 4:59.05 but it wasn't enough to book her a spot in the SEAG.

Meanwhile, gracious host Gov. Ramil Hernandez and track and field chief Philip Ella Juico declared the annual four-day meet closed in simple rites.

The event is organized by the Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association and Philippine Sports Commission and backed by Laguna Water, Pacific Online Scratch It KaskaSwerte, Papa John’s Pizza, Foton Philippines, PCSO, Smart, PLDT, Summit Natural Drinking Water and supported by SSS, Pagcor, Milo, Gatorade, L Time Studio and Asics Watch.