By ADRIAN STEWART CO
The Negros Occidental’s 3×3 squad took home the gold medal in the secondary boys’ 3×3 basketball event of the Western Visayas Regional Athletic Association (WVRAA) Meet at the Tangalan Covered Court in Aklan yesterday.
Represented by Bacolod Tay Tung High School’s Dylan Despi, Marvin Delos Santos, Vince Hugo and Joshua Dignadice, Negros Occidental ruled the tournament after defeating Antique in the finals, 19-15.
Negros Occidental, which was handled by Renato Callora and managed by Brian Coo Yap Tan, prevailed over Guimaras and Capiz in the preliminaries before beating Aklan in the semifinals.
The province’s swimming team also made a splash as they captured 11 gold medals in the elementary and secondary division at the Aklan Sports Complex in Makato town.
Troy Castor delivered two quick gold medals for Negrenses as he topped the secondary boys’ 100 meter breaststroke by beating Carl Joseph de Emoy of Capiz (silver) and Lance Nathan Marco of Aklan (bronze).
Castor then teamed up with Von Gabriel Gabana, Earl Jude Buncio and Clarence Garcia to capture the gold in secondary boys’ 4×50 medley relay against Team Iloilo (silver) and Team Capiz (bronze).
Anika Kathryn Matiling also captured two golds as she had a gold-silver medal finish with fellow Negrense Savannah Secuelan in the elementary girls’ 100-meter backstroke event.
Matiling and Secuelan then teamed up with Nina Jhoannika Gabo and Elisse Madisson Bonda to take home the top prize in the elementary girls’ 200-meter 4×50 medley relay.
Meanwhile, Zyra Villarino and Coraline Montalbo had a gold-silver finish in the elementary girls’ 400-meter freestyle, while Intnyr Gutana and Edrian Chua also had a 1-2 finish in the secondary boys’ 400-meter individual medley.
Marc Justin Yu and Miguel Quilop ended with gold and bronze medals in the secondary boys’ 400-meter freestyle, while Enzo Leyva and Aehro Tibus ended with silver and bronze in the elementary boys’ 400-meter freestyle.
Other gold medal winners for Negros swimming team were Alexi Cabayaran, Maxene Uy and Stacey Bee in the secondary girls’ and elementary boys’ 4×50 relay team. Zandri Abellar and Edward Blanco ended with silvers each, while Nathan Hiponia and Chrisella Los Banes had bronzes each./ASC, WDJ