Fil-heritage athletes, middle-distance runner Yacine Guermali, pole vaulter Alyanna Nicolas and sprinter Eric Cray, along with members of his relay team, lived up to expectations in the final events of the 2024 ICTSI Philippine Athletics Championship at the Philsports oval on Sunday in Pasig.
Guermali, a Fil-Morrocan runner competing for the first time here, won his second gold medal after he ruled the men’s 1500 meter run, making his decisive moves in the final lap, to get past national team member Sonny Wagdos.
Meanwhile, Nicolas outduelled two collegiate standouts Jia Kawachi and Khrizzie Ruzol for the gold medal in the women’s pole vault action.
Cray, along with Joyme Sequita, Michael del Prado and Frederick Ramirez, held their ground in claiming the men’s 4×400 meter relay honors.
The 29-year-old Guermali, who earlier topped the men’s 5000 meter run for his first gold, overtook Wagdos in the last 400 meters, to finish first in three minutes and 53.26 seconds.
“It came down to the last lap. It was fast. It was both my first time running in two events here. It was fun,” said Guermali, who now prepares for the Seiko Grand Prix in Tokyo this weekend.
Spectrum runner Dhem Monton landed second in 3:54.60, while Wagdos settles for third, in a close finish with Monton at 3:54.63.
Nicolas, a Fil-Am standout from San Jose, California, was 10 cms short of her personal best, claiming the gold in 3.7 meters.
Kawachi, an Ateneo standout who recently set a record in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines, was second at 3.4 meters, far from her 3.61 meter mark in the UAAP meet last November.
Ruzol, a University of Santo Tomas student-athlete, jumped higher from her UAAP-bronze medal winning feat of 3.10 to a better 3.3 meters.
Nicolas said she felt the pressure, with the absence of retired rival Natalie Uy, and with Kawachi and Ruzol stepping up.
“It must be the pressure with Natalie not here, and me filling in her shoes. But I did pretty well,” said Nicolas, whose family from San Pedro, Laguna migrated to the United States when she was 10.
Meanwhile, Cray and his teammates topped the relays in 3:10.28, with the Spectrum Runners, led by Monton and Dave Puno, behind at 3:22.33, and Mandaluyong taking third in 3:22.50.
It was Cray’s second gold, after he took the men’s 400-meter plum the other day.
