After a day of competitive battles in various sporting events, Negros swimmers made an emphatic performance in the ongoing Western Visayas Regional Athletic Association (WVRAA) Meet 2023 in Aklan.
Negros Occidental student-athletes made waves in the elementary and secondary swimming event after harvesting 11 gold medals on Thursday at the Aklan Sports Complex in Makato, Aklan.
Giving Negros its two gold medals, Troy Castor ruled the secondary boys 100 meter breaststroke after beating Carl Joseph De Emoy of Capiz (silver) and Lance Nathan Marco of Aklan (bronze).
Unstoppable, Castor then teamed up with Von Gabriel Gabana, Earl Jude Buncio and Clarence Garcia as they snatched the gold in secondary boys 4×50 medley relay against Team Iloilo (silver) and Team Capiz (bronze).
Anika Kathryn Matiling also captured two golds as she had a gold-silver medal finish with fellow Negrense Savannah Secuelan in the elementary girls 100 meter backstroke event.
Matiling and Secuelan then teamed up with Nina Jhoannika Gabo and Elisse Madisson Bonda to take home another gold in elementary girls 200 meter 4×50 medley relay.
Zyra Villarino and Coraline Montalbo, meanwhile, had a gold-silver finish in elementary girls 400 meter freestyle, while Intnyr Gutana and Edrian Chua also had a 1-2 finish in secondary boys 400 meter individual medley.
Marc Justin Yu and Miguel Quilop ended with gold and bronze medals in the secondary boys 400 meter freestyle, while Enzo Leyva and Aehro Tibus ended with silver and bronze in elementary boys 400 meter freestyle.
Duplicating the winning moment, Alexi Cabayaran, Maxene Uy and Stacey Bee added a gold in secondary girls and elementary boys 4×50 relay team. Zandri Abellar and Edward Blanco ended with silver medals each, while Nathan Hiponia and Chrisella Los Banes took home the bronze, apiece.
Meanwhile, host-Aklan has three swimming gold medals, courtesy of Johannemiles Pelayo, Johan Pablo Gomez and Gennuel De Leon.
Iloilo also has produced three gold medals from Val Gilbolinga, Kriztel Napallatan and secondary girls 4×50 medley team, while Chelsea Billanes got a gold for Capiz.
In archery, Antique’s Jaypee Pingoy delivered two gold medals in secondary boys 30 meter and 50 meter event, while Negrenses Isabela Ejercito and Micaela Manaloto capture golds in 50 and 30 meters, respectively.
Aklan also captured two gold medals in gymnastics as Prince Karl Provido topped the secondary boys gymnastics aero, while James Daniel Torres ruled the elementary boys gymnastics aero.
As one of the newest sports, 3X3 was ruled by Negros Occidental as the squad took home the gold medal in the secondary boys 3×3 basketball event at the Tangalan Covered Court here.
Represented by Bacolod Tay Tung High School, Dylan Despi, Marvin Delos Santos, Vince Hugo and Joshua Dignadice outpowered Antique in the finals, 19-15.
Negros Occidental, who was handled by Renato Callora and managed by Brian Coo Yap Tan, prevailed over Guimaras and Capiz in the preliminaries before beating Aklan in the semifinals.
The WVRAA Meet 2023 is hosted by Aklan after its return from a three-year cancellation. All gold medalists in this year’s edition will represent Region 6 in the much-anticipated Palarong Pambansa 2023 in Marikina City.IMT Sports
