By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
BANTAY, Ilocos Sur — Leonelyn Compuesto of Masbate ran away with her third gold medal in athletics while Baguio City remained poised to take the overall title in the penultimate day of the 2022 Batang Pinoy National Championships at the Quirino Stadium here.
Compuesto, who also competed in previous Palarong Pambansa editions, showed no signs of slowing down as she clocked 1 minute and 0.63 seconds to rule the girls 400 meters.
Meanwhile, Baguio City banked on Monday’s archery haul to lead the overall medal tally with 17 gold, 14 silver and 20 bronze medals.
The team amassed eight gold medals in the sport including five from Jathniel Caleb Fernandez in the boys 10-under division.
Fernandez competes for his sixth gold in the Olympic round at presstime at the San Ildefonso Central School field.
Baguio’s other gold medals came from swimming (1) and virtual events such as muay (5), taekwondo (2) and arnis (1).
At second is Quezon City with 13 gold, eight silver and nine bronzes, while General Santos City trails at third with 11 gold, eight silver and five bronzes.
Bohol’s Ma. Emelyn Balunan was a distant second with 1:02.51 while Olongapo City’s Wella Mae Coronado bagged the bronze in 1:04.67.
Compuesto opened her campaign Sunday, Dec. 18, in the 200m by timing 26.64sec then returned Monday, Dec. 19, with teammates Alessandra Capellan, Realyn Lanuza and Jesalyn Materdan to capture the 4x100m relay gold in 52.51sec.
The Masbate Sports Academy standout hopes to qualify in the centerpiece 100m dash happening at presstime with hopes of becoming the fastest female runner in this edition as well as to become the most bemedalled athlete in the sport.
At the Quirino Stadium pool, Lucena City’s Julian De Kam picked up his fourth gold medal after topping the boys 13-15 400m freestyle with 4:26.03 to become the most bemedalled swimmer so far.
His earlier mints came from the 1500m free, 100m fly and 200m free.
Laguna’s Jaella Mendoza snared her third gold after winning the girls 12-under 100m backstroke in 1:14.87 – a fitting follow up to her victories in the 100m free and 200m back.
In arnis which was held virtually, Lapu-Lapu City came away with seven gold medals courtesy of Athena Sapio (girls Cadet A 7-9 years old traditional single weapon), Jarolyn Ycoy (girls Cade A 7-9 yo tradional double weapon), Clarence Prado (girls Cade B 10-12 yo traditional single weapon), Charity Tana (girls Cadet B10-12 yo traditional espada y daga), Jack Abatayo ( boys Cadet B 10-12 yr traditional single weapon), Johnniel Barral (junior girls 13-15 yo traditional single weapon), and Jomel Tana (junior boys 13-15 yo traditional single weapon).
