By ADRIAN STEWART CO

Mico Villaran of Team Bacolod City showed his way with three gold medals in the 2022 Philippine Sports Commission’s Batang Pinoy National Championships at the Quirino Sports Complex in Ilocos Sur’s Vigan City on Monday afternoon, December 19.

The Bacolod-native Villaran made the most of his one-and-done stint in the country’s centerpiece grassroots development program as he topped the boys’ 110, 200 and 400-meter hurdles.

Villaran, a Grade 9 student of Romanito P. Maravilla Sr. National High School in Bacolod, clocked 15.17 seconds in the 110-meter hurdles and 23.18 seconds in the 200-meter event.

Accompanied by head coach Miguel Arca, the 15-year-old Villaran said he is using the tournament as preparation for his possible stint in the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games soon.

“Ang goal ko mag-compete sa SEA Games at international [tournaments] na malalaki,” Villaran said, who got into running when his bid to make the school’s badminton and volleyball teams failed.

Iloilo City, for its part, also got its first gold medal in the week-long competition as cyclist Harvy Dolutan outsprinted his opponents in the 14- and 15-year-old boys’ time trial cycling.

Dolutan, a product of St. Augustine Catholic School in Iloilo City, bested his 30 opponents in the category after finishing with a time of 22 minutes and 32.823 seconds.

Meanwhile, Ilongga cyclist Maria Louise Alejado fell short of clinching Iloilo City’s second gold medal in the girls’ 13-and-below cycling event.

Alejado settled for the silver medal with 39:12.067, clocking behind Maritanya Krog of Caloocan, who captured the gold medal with her time of 37:43.519.

Brendz Agyn Celerian of Iloilo City also ended up with the silver medal in the boys’ 14-to-15 cycling event with 52:44.850, behind gold medal winner, Chris Andreu Ferrer of Cebu City (52:44.492)./ASC, WDJ