By Jerome Lagunzad
But that didn’t stop Beram from giving his all on Friday night when he outsprinted fellow Fil-Am sensation Eric Shauwn Cray in their first-ever head-to-head showdown for the men’s 200m title in the 2018 Ayala Philippine Athletics Championships at the City of Ilagan Sports Complex here.
Beram, 24, the reigning 200m and 400m titleholder in the Southeast Asian Games, made a quick start then had a sudden burst of speed in the final 500 meters to pull away from Cray, 29, and seven other rivals, including fellow national team standouts Joan Caido and Archand Bagsit, for a winning time of 21.11 seconds.
“He pushes me (to my limit),” said Beram of Cray, once the fastest man in the region who came in at second at 21.79 seconds. “We practice together but this is the first time we competed against each other. And it’s still great to race against him.”
The impressive victory somehow soothed the pain for Beram since he and their fancied team, which included Cray, got disqualified for dropping the baton in the 4x100m relay last Thursday night.
But the University of Connecticut star admitted he’s keeping his focus on the bigger picture — the Asian meet set from Aug. 18 to Sept. 2 in Jakarta and Palembang, Indoensia where he will try to surpass the current national record of 20.84 seconds which he posted in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
“If I run faster than that, I got a good chance of medalling (in the 200m),” said Beram. “My PR (personal record) in the 400m meanwhile is not even close. So I really need to train even harder. Who knows? I might have a strong performance.”
To achieve such, Beram said “I’m still undecided, but most probably, I’ll be here” to train with his fellow national team bets in Vermosa by Ayala Land in Cavite for Asiad.
