Loraña nearly breaks national record, KG Mercuries rule relay in PH Athletics Championships

CAPAS, Tarlac – Hussein Loraña narrowly missed a new national record while ruling the men’s 800-meter race, while the KG Mercuries, led by former national sprinter Anfernee Lopena, emerged from nowhere to capture the men’s 4×100-meter relay on the penultimate day of the ICTSI Philippine Athletic Championships presented by the Philippine Sports Commission Saturday night.

In another event-filled day at the New Clark City Athletic Stadium, the 33rd Thailand Southeast Asian Games gold medalist surged from behind in the final 100 meters to overtake erstwhile-frontrunner Oyam Kent Espinosa, clocking one minute and 48.39 seconds.

He was just 0.87 of a second off the seven-year-old national record of 1:47.52 set by Fil-Am Carter Lilly on April 19, 2019, at the Bryan Clay International in Azusa, California, in the meet co-presented by BCDA and New Clark City.

It was the third men’s 800-meter title for the former UAAP Season 86 MVP in the athletic showcase, with the ICTSI Foundation as title sponsor.

A two-time SEA Games men’s 100-meter bronze medalist, Lopena powered a strong start for the KG Mercuries, which was sustained by second and third runners Vicjardi Tapia and Ralp Anthony Lego.

It was left to PRISAA track standout Kent Paul Burdan to anchor the squad and bring home the gold in 40.56 seconds in the championships sponsored by CEL Logistics Inc. and UAAGI Auto Group Inc.

Pinoy Athletics settled for silver (40.57), while the national team (40.70) took bronze in the competition organized by Philippine Athletics, also supported by Pocari Sweat, Clark Water, and Masiv Sports.

However, the night did not go well for the national women’s quartet of Lauren Hoffman, Kristina Knott, Jessica Laurance, and Lianne Diane Palma, after the team was disqualified for a faulty handoff from Knott to Laurance.

Malaysia secured gold (45.63), UST took silver (48.62), and La Salle-Taft (48.90) completed a 1-2-3 finish in the women’s 4×100-meter relay of the tournament, which is also backed by Energya and Cherrylume.

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Under a new coach, 33rd SEA Games veteran Fil-Am Sydney Joshua Yap threw the hammer to a personal best of 50.65 meters to claim his first gold in the meet after finishing runner-up in the previous edition.

Aided by closest rival John Celestino Romero’s failure to register a valid mark in the pole vault, Janry Ubas completed a golden double with 6,440 points to capture the decathlon title.

Under the banner of the Philippine Vault Club, Romero took silver (5,865), while UST’s Rolly Royo earned bronze (5,634) in the 10-event discipline.

Early Sunday morning, 33rd SEA Games marathon silver medalists Sonny Wagdos and Artjoy Torregosa — who also competed in a 21K road race at the Manila Marathon the previous day — still had enough energy to top the men’s and women’s 10,000-meter runs, respectively.

Competing in their third event since Tuesday, Wagdos clocked 31:10.64 for his second medal of the trackfest after taking silver behind Yacine Guermali in the men’s 5,000-meter race.

(C) PATAFA

Torregosa added her second gold with a winning time of 36:34.74, following her 5,000-meter title earlier.

“Although sa tingin ko, kaya ko naman na ma-break yung record. Though sa tamahong panahon pa yon,” said Loraña after his near record-breaking performance.

“I am hoping to break it sa Asian Under-23 championships in Ordos, China, next month,” added the athlete ahead of the inaugural Asian U23 meet set from July 9 to 12 in the Chinese city.

“Ang sabi ko sa mga kakampi ko na hindi kami underdog at malakas kami na sa amin ang PRISA triple gold medalist (Burdan) and NCAA best freshman (Tapia),” Lopena said. “We knew we could win this race.”

“Solid team yan,” Clinton Bautista said matter-of-factly of the champion relay squad after he and fellow PH relay members Al Hyan Labita, Kent Francis Jardin, and Kharis Pantonial were left chasing the KG Mercuries.

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