GENERAL SANTOS CITY— Seventeen-year-old Patricia Santor’s hard work paid off on Wednesday on Day 4 of the 2025 Batang Pinoy National Championships here.
Santor snared two gold medals for a personal total of five and her efforts lifted Team Manila to the overall lead in the medal standings in the swimming competitions at the Antonio Acharon Sports Complex.
The 12th grader from the University of Santo Tomas shone bright in the 16-17 year old girls’ action, the first in the 200-meter butterfly, and the second with her teammates in record-breaking fashion in the 4×50-meter freestyle relay event.
All fired up on a cloudy day, Santor’s efforts put Team Manila ahead of Baguio City in the Batang Pinoy’s medal tally, with 19 golds, 16 silvers and 14 bronzes, as of 5 p.m., Wednesday.
“I believe I did my best. And that’s all that matters to me,” said Santor, a 12th grader at the University of Santo Tomas, after she claimed her fourth mint in the 200-meter butterfly in 2:23.37, ahead of Ormoc’s Denise Estrera (2:34.10) and teammate Sinagtala Cuevas (2:35.24).
With teammates Jamie Sy, Eliana Rodriguez and Kristine Uy, they smashed the 4×50-meter freestyle mark of the Aubrey Tom-led Quezon City (1:56.12) in 1:55.42, to finish ahead of Mandaue and Bacolod City.
Santor’s feat came as hometown favorite Isaiah Christian Lagnason missed his fourth gold medal after he was disqualified in the 16-17 year old 200-meter butterfly event due to a false start.
“We’re leading. And we’re contributing a lot to the overall championship for Manila,” said Manila head coach Cyrus Alcantara.
Lagnason, who still has one event left, conceded the podium to Bataan’s James de Guzman, who took first place honors in 2:20.75, with Ginoog’s Matt Margate and Pasay’s Ramon Ching in second and third.
Team Baguio (18-12-16) also got two gold medals from its boys’ and girls’ squads in the team juvenile section of the judo meet at Lagao Central Elementary School.
Amir Wasan topped the boys’ 38-kg event for the City of Pines in the team event, while Alayne Joy dominated her matches in the 63-kg girls’ side of the juvenile matches.
Yuri Paraguya and Nika Juris Nicolas added mints for Pasig City’s 17-12-19 collection in chess events at the Robinson’s Mall.
Quezon City is in fourth (15-16-17) off swimmer Pauline Obebe’s top finish in the 16-17 year old girls’ 50-meter freestyle.
Zamboanga City’s eight golds in weightlifting propelled them to fifth with its 11-7-3 tally over at the Bgy. Labangal gymnasium.
Faith Leonor ruled the girls’ 13-17 year old, 40-kg category, while Hero Alas-As topped the 10-under action.
