Region 7 finishes 4th again

Dapitan City— Region 7 came up with a better harvest in the 2011 Palarong Pambansa but still couldn’t get a ranking better than fourth place.

Region 7 once again finished fourth, ending the weeklong competition with 329 points, 100 points behind third-placer Region 4-A, which gathered 429.50 points.

Powerhouse National Capital Region (NCR), as expected, defended its title with 572.66 points followed by Region 6 with 479.50 points.

The final day of the multi-event saw Region 7 winning gold in the secondary football, with the Mario Ceniza-coached squad edging Region 11, 2-1.

The elementary team, however, failed to duplicate the secondary team’s victory after it absorbed a 1-3 loss against Region 10 in their own championship match.

Region 7 also squandered its chances of winning gold when John Godfrey Seno bowed to a Region 6 opponent in the championship game of the elementary’s tennis singles individuals.

The elementary basketball team dropped its battle for third place against Region 11 and settled for just five points.

The secondary football team earned 25 points for the win, while the elementary got 15 and Seno won three points.

Had they won all of their remaining games yesterday, the Region 7 athletes could have earned a total of 75 points but still not enough to overcome Region 4-A.

Danilo Villadolid of the Department Education in Cenral Visayas (DepEd-7) said it can still be considered a successful campaign for Region 7 despite its failure to improve its fourth place finish last year.

“We have more points this year. Last year, we were separated by a wide margin with the third placer but now its only 100 points,” said Villadolid.

Region 7, composed of athletes from Cebu Province, Cebu City, Bohol, Surigao, Dumaguete, Oriental Negros and Lapu-Lapu City, got 188.50 points in the secondary division while the elementary division bagged 140.50.

Region 4-A outscored Region 7 in both the secondary and elementary divisions with 248.50 and 181 points, respectively.

In last year’s Palaro, Region 7 finished with 214.34 points.

It can be recalled that upon the instruction of DepEd-7 regional director Recaredo Borgonia, a screening of athletes was held to determine who will compose Region 7 in the Palaro instead of automatically sending the winners in the Central Visayas Regional Athletic Association (CVIRAA) meet.

Apparently, the move worked for the region, said Villadolid.

“In a way, it was effective since we have more points this year,” said Villadolid.

ATHLETICS,

SWIMMING BETS SILENT

Region 7 could have had a better finish this year had the athletics and swimming bets performed the way they did in the previous competitions, where they were the consistent source of gold medals.

This year Region 7 only won two golds in athletics courtesy of Alfeerne Lopena (400m) and Kit Vincent Petellero (long jump). Swimming produced just one gold courtesy of Michael Ichiro Kong (500m butterfly).

Considered as the top performers in the meet were the top archery team and the gymnasts.

Last year, Region 7 amassed a total of 14 gold medals, 29 silvers and 18 bronze medals.

Allan Villacampa, in-charge of Region 7’s documentation office, said DepEd-7 has yet to finalize its the region’s final medal tally.

In an unofficial tally by Cebu Daily News, Region 7 got 28 golds, 11 silvers and 14 bronze medals.

The meet formally ended yesterday with the closing ceremonies at the Jose Rizal Memorial State University Sports Complex. The closing program was graced by singer-actress Sarah Geronimo and song and dance girl group Mocha.

The other competing regions included Region 10 (172 points, 5th), Region 12 (146.16, 6th), Region 11 (141.25, 7th), Region 3 (141.00 8th), Region 4-B (102.50, 9th), Region 9 (79.91, 10th), CARAA (66.75, 11th), Region I (59.50, 12th), Region 5 (49.75, 13th), Region 2 (26, 14th), CARAGA (15.50, 15th), Region 8 (9.0, 16th) and ARMM (3.0, 17th).