THREE’S A TREAT: Trangia wins discus gold, eyes UST stint

PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Palawan — A three-peat in the girls’ discus and a new Batang Pinoy record in swimming bannered the tournament’s first day at the Ramon V. Mitra Sr. Sports Complex on Sunday.

Courtney Jewel Trangia of Masbate shone the brightest as she tallied 38.30 meters in the girls’ U18 discus throw to win her third straight mint.

The 17-year-old daughter of a kagawad of Barangay Boncanaway in Masbate and a grade school teacher at Boncanaway Elementary School in Balud said she wants to improve while also balancing her studies.

Trangia, who has won the girls’ discus since 2022, said she has already garnered interest from several University Athletic Association of the Philippines schools like University of Santo Tomas (UST), Adamson University, Ateneo de Manila University, De La Salle University as soon as she finishes her studies at Masbate Sports Academy next year.

“I’m happy to get the three-peat. It’s hard to balance academics and training and I want to improve,” Trangia said.

“I have been getting offers from UST, Adamson, Ateneo, and La Salle. I’m leaning towards UST.”

Trangia was supposed to compete in the girls’ U18 shotput but opted not to as she will be competing in the Southeast Asian Athletics Championships in Malaysia from 28 to 30 November.

“I wanted to compete in the shotput but it will be held on the last day. I will be in Malaysia by then,” Trangia said.

Hannah Ashlei Regaya of Davao del Norte settled for a silver medal with 31.54m while Trisha Gayle Nalla of Maasin City got the bronze with 31.06m.

In swimming, Anton Paulo Della of San Fernando, La Union, dominated the boys 16-17 200-meter individual medley (IM) after clocking in two minutes and 15.58 seconds.

The previous record was held by Peter Cyrus Dean of Lucena, who ran it in 2:16.66 minutes last year.

Coby Marcus Rivilla of Ormoc City settled for silver with 2:17.28 minutes, while Juan Alessandro Suarez of Davao City got a bronze medal with 2:18.71 minutes.

Also winning the first day were Aston Clyde Jose of Taguig City in boys 14-15 200-m IM 2:14.08 minutes, Kyla Bulaga of San Fernando, La Union in the girls’ 14-15 200m IM 2:33.50 minutes, and Liza Margarette Amoguis of Quezon City in girls 16-17 200m IM with 2:33.25 minutes, Pampanga’s Jet Deryl Berueda in boys’ 14-15 100m free with 56.17 seconds.

Aklan’s Nuche Ibit of Aklan captured the gold medal of the girls 14-15 100-m freestyle with a time of 1:00.68, TJ Amaro of Naga City won the men’s 100-meter freestyle with a time of 52.59 seconds, and Arabella Taguinota of Pasig City in the girls 16-17 100-m freestyle with a time of 1:02.03 minutes.

Arvin Taguinota II clinched another gold for the Pasigueños after dominating the boys’ 12-13 100-m IM with a time of 2:22.02 minutes while Ashton Clyde Jose of Taguig City also got a mint in the same event but in the boys’ 14-15 category with a time of 2:14.08.

Meanwhile, Mybella Briones of Rizal captured the gold medal in the Children Girls’ 35-kilogram category after a snatch of 40 kgs and a clean-and-jerk of 52 kgs for a total lift of 92 kgs.

Adrian Bucol also dominated the Children Boys’ 37-kg category after lifting a snatch of 51 kgs and a clean-and-jerk of 61 kgs for a total lift of 112 kgs despite competing with a boil on his left hand.