Anfernee Lopena is slowly getting back in the groove after taking a podium finish in the 100-meter sprint of the recent MILO-Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association Performance Trials at the Philsports Complex in Pasig in the last week of March.
The 28-year-old Lopena clocked 10.77 seconds to finally make the cut to the 2022 Southeast Asian Games.
Lopena placed second to earlier qualifier Clinton Kingsley Bautista, who emerged first in 10.66 seconds.
In doing so, Lopena will have a chance to help the national men’s 4×100 meter relay team improve on their bronze-medal performance in the 2019 SEA Games.
“My need to lower it (my time) is still in the process. It needs more improvement,” said Lopena in an interview with the Manila Standard.
Lopena hit the bronze-medal qualifying standard of 11 seconds with Bautista, along with Janry Ubas, who equalled the qualification mark with his 11-second clocking.
This is will allow Lopena to rejoin the relay team, which is made up of Bautista, Francis Medina and Eric Cray.
There won’t be a chance for Lopena to help defend the mixed relay gold that he and teammates Eloisa Luzon, Cray and Kristina Knott won two years ago because the event has been stricken off the schedule of events in Hanoi.
Lopena will be joining another series of performance trials to be held this month to determine if he can still submit a lower time.
And his chance to do so will happen on April 21 and 22 at the Philsports oval in Pasig.
So far, there are now a total of 34 pool members, who have made the bronze medal standard that the PATAFA has set for prospective entries to the national squad to the SEA Games.
