BANTAY, Ilocos Sur — A Bicolana got the privilege of winning the first gold medal in the Palarong Pambansa 2018 at the Quirino Stadium here on Monday.
Lheslie De Lima took the top spot in the 3,000-meter steeple chase after beating Camila Tubiano of Northern Mindanao in a close race.
De Lima maintained her stride in the final 100 meters to edge Tubiano by just nearly a half-second. De Lima came in at 10:06.54, while Tubiano stepped on the finish line at 10:07.02.
Grace Tejones of Western Visayas took the bronze with the time of 10:52.99.
On the other hand, Ann Quitoy of Western Visayas did not only dethrone Sylvian Abunda as the secondary girls javelin throw champ but also shattered her old record in style.
Quitoy’s throw went 45.72 meters, way longer than the previous record of 42.85 set by Abunda last year in Antique.
Abunda, representing Northern Mindanao, was actually far from her gold medalist self this time as her throw was only good for 41.28 meters, still enough to capture the silver.
Soccsksargen’s Marizel Buer took the bronze with a throw of 39.44 meters. (Ivan Stewart Saldajeno/PNA)
