Ilagan City—Melvin Calano and Kenny Gonzales, alongside their mentor Danilo Fresnido posted a rare 1-2-3 finish in the men’s javelin throw to highlight an action-packed last day of the 2018 Ayala Philippines Athletics Championships at the City of Ilagan Sports Complex here in Isabela.
Calano, 27, exacted some sort of vengeance on his playing coach Fresnido, who was hailed as Javelin King in last year’s National Open, also held here in Ilagan City, by throwing the spear by a distance of 63.55 meters to win this year’s edition.
His teammate Gonzales followed at second place with a 62.29-meter mark, while the multi-titled javelin thrower-turned coach Fresnido had a throw of 61.31 meters to complete the podium.
“Bawi lang. Tinalo po kasi ako ni coach last year,” said the Camarines Norte-native Calano, who finished behind Fresnido and Gonzales, respectively, in the 2017 National Open.
This time, the 2017 Southeast Asian Games bronze medalist Calano finally turned the tide on his teammate and coach to continue his strong showing heading into the biennial meet next year here in the country.
Prior to the huge win in the APAC, Calano hauled three bronze medals this past month in invitational opens hosted by Thailand, Singapore and Taiwan under the tutelage of Fresnido.
Holding a personal-best of 68.95 meters, Calano looks forward to his upcoming stints in Thailand and Korea national opens next month to inch closer to breaking his mentor’s standing national record.
Fresnido, also a Sergeant of the Philippine Army, still owns men’s javelin record of 72.93 meters he set during the 25th SEAG in Laos back in 2009.
“Magandang makipag-compete sa mga mas batang athlete para ma-inspire sila,” beamed Fresnido, who still put on a gallant stand against his protégés despite being already 45 years old.
More than his responsibility to guide and inspire athletes, Fresnido is also warming his up for his upcoming World Masters Athletics Championships this September in Spain.
“Medyo may edad na tayo, pero kaya pa,” beamed Fresnido, who was a three-time SEAG gold medalist and two-time Asian Games’ participant.
For the meantime though, he will pour his time gradually training his players under his wing for them to finally set a national record and dominate internationally like him during his heyday.
“Matagal kasi ang progress ng thrower. Mahaba ang training ng javelin throw. Unti-unti. Pero tingin ko, mga three years, aabot na itong mga batang ito sa 70 (meters),” the Sorsogon-native concluded.
Meanwhile, Philippine Army dominated the women’s shot put with Narcisa Atienza and Rosie Villarito completing a 1-2 finish after registering 13.10 meters and 11.68 meters, respectively.
In girls’ discus throw, De La Salle University’s Daniela Daynata tallied 40.80m to win the gold over Ainah Marie Masangkay (36.56m) of RunRio – University of the Philippines and Cleofe Bagto (30.65m) of Team Baguio City.
Mohd Eizlan Dahlan of Sabah Malaysi Team, meanwhile, recorded 2.10m to rule the men’s high jump over Albert Callejo (1.90m) of Adamson and Jay-R Tungcul (1.80m) of Mapua.
In the 5,000-meter walk, Run Rio’s Alan Julianne Halaguena timed in 37 minutes and 17.5 seconds to edge teammate Sally Campus (32:11.5) and Team Titus’ Juliana Talaro (32:29.5).
Army pride Richard Salaño covered the long-distance 5,000-meter run with a time of 15:22.94 to grab his third gold medal in the five-day trackfest presented by Ayala Corp. and the City of Ilagan, with support from Milo, the Philippine Sports Commission, Foton, Cocolife, Rebisco and F2 Logistics.
The Private First Class Salaño also reigned supreme in the 10,000 meters and 3,000-m steeple chase on Thursday and Friday, respectively.
APAC’s most bemedalled athlete Veruel Verdadero of Dasmariñas City Athletic Team missed out on a rare five-of-five event conquest after Dasma failed to place in the podium of the boys’ 4x100m relay Sunday night.
Verdadero notched his four gold medals in 100m, 200m, 400m at 4x100m mixed gender relay earlier in the country’s biggest and premier athletics competition.
His fellow Dasma bet Edwin Giron Jr. clocked in 1:52.70 to own the boys’ 800-m run, while SEAG silver medalist Marco Vilog owned the men’s 800-m run with a time of 1:51.98.
Philippine Army’s Ailene Tolentino (2:23.03), on the other hand, bagged the women’s 800-m run, while Marisol Amarga of Run Rio nailed the girls’ 800m run with a time of 2:14.96.
As of writing time, Run Rio leads the medal tally with 14 gold medals followed by Dasma and Philippine Army with 11 and 10 mints, respectively.