GENERAL SANTOS CITY — Soccsksargen’s (Sox) arnis team continued to carry the region’s remarkable run at the ongoing 2018 Palarong Pambansa, as it stood at third place behind powerhouse National Capital Region (NCR) and Southern Tagalog in the overall medal standings on Wednesday.
Team Sox garnered 14 gold, 12 silver and 13 bronze medals as of 4:53 p.m., three silvers shy of second placer Southern Tagalog’s 14 golds, 15 silvers and 24 bronzes.
NCR sits on top of the standings with 26 golds, 16 silvers and 12 bronze medals.
The region’s arnis team accounted for 11 of the region’s gold medal haul while the table tennis and gymnastics teams contributed the other three golds.
Magdaleno Duhilag, Soccsksargen delegation coordinator, said they were satisfied with the overall performance of their athletes as of the third day of the games in Vigan City.
“We’re competing and winning medals. This is one of the best starts for the region in recent years,” he said.
He said they expect to win more medals in the next three days and achieve its target of 35 gold medals.
The team, however, needs to get out of the slump in athletics, which failed to produce a gold medal since the opening day.
On Wednesday, Sox hurdlers Kenneth Masabio Corpuz and Kerry Calumpang settled for the silver and bronze medals, respectively, in the 400-meter hurdle – secondary boys finals held at the Quirino Stadium in Bantay, Ilocos Sur.
Corpuz clocked 55.20 seconds to finish second while Calumpang came in third at 55.53 seconds.
A three-time Palaro player, Corpuz is a Grade 11 student of the Libertad National High School in Surallah, South Cotabato.
He dedicated his win to his parents, Melanie and Orlando Corpuz, who are both overseas Filipino workers.
Palaro rookie Calumpang, who hails from Barangay Lomoyon in Kiamba, Sarangani province, is a Grade 10 student of the Cabales Enarbia Sr. Integrated School.
Corpuz has already qualified for the 400-meter run finals and will team up with Calumpang and two other runners in the 4×400-meter relay – secondary boys finals on Thursday. (Alejandro Saludo/PNA)
