OK you may ask, what Tsunami, or what Avalanche or even what Massacre this is all about? Well we didn’t see any water, and we don’t have snow and we really haven’t seen bodies laying all about. So what am I referring to? I wrote a few weeks ago regarding the first Negros Island Regional Athletic Meet, which was held last week in Bacolod. I described that a disaster was possible regarding the outcome of this meet, basically between Negros Oriental and Negros Occidental.
So what did happen you may ask? Well, disaster did strike and it was the teams representing Negros Oriental that were on the receiving end. The latest unofficial results have Negros Occidental garnering over 270 gold and 128 silver medals. The six teams representing Negros Oriental combined for over 20 gold medals and almost 80 silver medals. Wow, did you see that? Go for gold was the battle cry for some on this side of the island but Negros Occidental must have thought the battle cry was for them.
So let’s focus on where my time was spent, with athletics which was held at the Panaad Sports Complex. Again it was mostly Negros Occidental outperforming Negros Oriental although these are unofficial results as of yet. In elementary athletics boys and girls, not a single gold medal and only 6 silver medals were won. Bronze medals were basically the only medals available to Negros Oriental as Negros Occidental had 2 competitors in each event thus most bronze medals would go to a team from Negros Oriental.
So how did we do at the high school level in athletics you may ask? Well, a little better as the secondary boys from the whole province won 3 gold and 2 silver medals. On the secondary girls side only one gold medal was won and three silvers. The gold and 2 of the silver medals were won by classmates of Foundation Preparatory Academy. The gold was won by eighth grader Ann Quitoy, thus she kept Negros Occidental from winning every event. Two silver medals were won by her classmates Marjorie Uy and Reyshel Queding. Marjorie took the silver medal in the long jump, going up against the Palarong Pambansa record holder from Bacolod. She lost by only 8 cm. Reyshel Queding took a silver medal in the 800 meter run, this while nursing a hamstring injury.
Thus, Foundation Preparatory Academy can claim the title of champion for athletics of schools in Negros Oriental. The three girls also won 3 bronze medals, so for Negros Oriental they are number one in 6 events. Also representing Dumaguete and winning a silver medal was Chuche Montenegro from Silliman University. She competed in the 100 meter hurdles. For Dumaguete City in the sport of athletics, drum roll please, a grand total of one gold, and three silvers. Not so encouraging.
So you may ask why did this happen? Well, I will explore that topic in my article next week. Is there hope? Oh, there is always hope. Stay tuned. Go for gold.
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Author’s email: HealthAssist@hotmail.com
