By ADRIAN STEWART CO

Bacolod Tay Tung High School Thunderbolts standout Rhose Viane Almendralejo is set to receive the Athlete of the Year award at Department of Education’s (DepEd) Gawad Pagkilala sa Larangan ng Sports in Malay, Aklan today.

Almendralejo, who recently committed to the National University Lady Bulldogs, will also be given the Outstanding Athlete for Ball Game in awarding rites to be held at Paradise Garden Hotel and Convention Center.

Aside from guiding Negros Island Region (NIR) to the Palarong Pambansa secondary girls volleyball championships, Almendralejo also recently played for Alas Pilipinas girls in the Asian Youth Games.

Thunderbolts team captain Brianna Nicola Ang, on the other hand, is receiving the Palarong Pambansa Sports Idol for being one of the fan favorites during the recent annual sporting event.

Also set to be awarded from NIR are Mico Villaran (athletics) as Outstanding Athlete for Measurable Sports, and Rian Ambino (baseball) as Outstanding Athlete for Batted Games.

Arnis standout Melchor Bataican of Western Visayas is to be given the Outstanding Athlete for Combative Sport citation.

Other awardees are Mary Janelle Tan of Northern Mindanao (chess) as Outstanding Athlete for Individual Sports, Etha Seno of Central Visayas (tennis) as Outstanding Athlete for Racket Sports, and Jezreel Semense of Zamboanga Peninsula (para-athletics) as Palarong Pambansa Exceptional Para-Athlete.

The outstanding athletes were chosen by DepEd, through the Office of the Undersecretary for Governance and Operations, and the Palarong Pambansa secretariat./ASC, WDJ