By ADRIAN STEWART CO

Negrense hurdler Mico Villaran completed another three-peat in the track and field event of the 2025 Palarong Pambansa at the Ferdinand E. Marcos Memorial Stadium in Laoag, Ilocos Norte yesterday.

The Romanito Maravilla National High School standout clinched his second three-peat in the secondary boys 400-meter hurdles with a record-setting time of 53.52 seconds.

Villaran, who also had a gold medal three-peat in the 110-meter hurdles, prevailed over National Capital Region’s (NCR) Ivan Cabanda (54 seconds), and Julius Ceazar Valdenarrio of Calabarzon (54.96 seconds).

“Ang masasabi ko po sa record-breaking performance ko dito sa Palaro ay sobrang saya. Pinaghandaan ko talaga ‘yung record, at hindi lang ‘yung gold medal,” Villaran said in an interview with GMA Sports.

“Kasi last year, hindi na-officialize ‘yung record ko. Kaya ngayon, ‘yung record talaga ‘yung pinaghandaan namin ng coach ko,” he said.

“Bale last year, nag-declare po sila na kulang daw po ng two meters ‘yung oval, kaya hindi nalagay ‘yung record,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Western Visayas (WV) secondary girls volleyball team, represented by the Bacolod Tay Tung High School Thunderbolts, reached the semis with a 25-12, 27-25 victory over Northern Mindanao.

Rhose Viane Almendralejo finished with 23 points, built on 17 attacks and six service aces, to be named Player of the Game for the two-time defending champion WV.

WV’s secondary boys basketball team, where Negrenses Paul Barcelona and Alfred Ysulan are members, pulled off a massive 76-67 upset over NCR in the knockout quarterfinals.

WV team manager Eugene Chua shared that dethroning NCR was a huge achievement for his team, but they hope to complete their run in the week-long competition.

“Of course our goal is the gold,” Chua said.

“Very huge win but we cannot settle for this. We went here in Palaro with an aim of winning the championship and, hopefully, we can complete the job,” he added./ASC, WDJ