by Leilanie Adriano/PNA
The Department of Education (DepEd) Schools Division of Dagupan City clinched the overall championship in this year’s Region 1 Athletic Association (R1AA) meet held from March 6 to 11 in this city.
Though there was no overall ranking for this year’s conduct of R1AA meet, the medal tally showed that Dagupan City clearly won the most gold medals with a total of 87, silver — 64, and bronze — 55.
This is followed by Pangasinan whose delegates dominated archery, badminton, table tennis, volleyball and wushu.
Pangasinan took home 57 gold, 52 silver, and 43 bronze medals, while Ilocos Norte had a close finished of 56 gold, 39 silver, and 61 bronze medals, respectively.
Since the start of the sports competition, powerhouse Dagupan City displayed its fierce form to defend its title from last year’s regional competition, consistently showing its best in arnis, boxing, swimming and aero gymnastics.
As champion, it will field the most number of athletes who will represent Region 1 in the Palarong Pambansa in Davao City on April 2019.
In his speech during the awarding ceremony held at the Ferdinand E. Marcos Memorial Stadium on Monday, Senior Provincial Board Member Matthew Joseph Manotoc lauded all the 14 schools’ division offices for showing their “best foot forward”.
“Thank you, Department of Education for allowing us to host this event and to the delegates for being very dignified and reasonable guests,” Manotoc said, as he also expressed gratitude to the people behind the successful six-day sporting event in the region with no major complaints reported.
“We hope to see you again here in the province not as a competitor but to visit and tour around. You are always welcome in Ilocos Norte,” he said.
