University of Santo Tomas standout Ivan Cabanda made a splash on his first international outing, and in record-breaking fashion.
The 17-year-old Cabanda took charge in the closing stretches to top the boys under-18, 400-meter hurdles at the ongoing Southeast Asian U18 & U20 Athletics Championships in Medan, Indonesia.
With his efforts, the Philippines moved into second place in the overall medal race with 10 golds, three silvers, and a bronze, after Filipino athletes secured three golds on Day 3.
Host Indonesia has a 10-10-15 gold-silver-bronze compilation, while Vietnam is at no. 3 with its 8-11-5 haul.
Cabanda reached the finish line in 52.83 seconds, shattering a months-long, newly-established national under-18 mark of 53.33 seconds, which was set by John Celestino Romero during the 2025 National Championships in New Clark City.
He made his presence felt weeks after he qualified for the 2026 World Junior Championships with his 52.99-second feat during the UAAP Season 88 trackfest.
Having surpassed the national mark twice already, Cabanda was ahead of Singaporean Daryen Ko (53.65) and Thirapat Klaopho of Thailand(53.87).
The Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association is still compiling performance records of junior athletes, and is set to establish Philippine records in the under-20, under-18, and in the under-16 levels.
National marks were set in the under-20 category in the past years.
The Philippines’ two other golds for the day came from Franceine Jhobie Rosario and Pangasinan standout Eric Joachim Hechanova.
After placing fourth in the U18 girls 100 100-meter run, Rosario took the 200-meter run in 24.67 seconds.
And with the Philippine record still unestablished in this category, Rosario’s time went below the record-breaking 24.77 seconds that she submitted in the UAAP season 88 meet.
Hechanova, another newbie in international events, ruled the boys under-3000-meter run in nine minutes and 6.35 seconds
Hechanova’s time was off his best clocking of 8:48.16 when he won the gold during the PATAFA Weekly Relays last September.
