Calabarzon garnered five more gold medals in swimming on Sunday as it remained second behind powerhouse National Capital Region (NCR) in the overall medal standings of the Palarong Pambansa in Cebu City.
Albert Jose Amaro II bagged three golds while Micaela Jasmine Mojdeh and Peter Cyrus Dean got one each at Cebu City Sports Center pool.
Amaro ruled the boys' 13-18 50-meter freestyle in 24.25 seconds, while NCR bets Luke Amber Matthew Arano (24.57s) and Kobie Briel Rivera (24.69s) placed second and third, respectively.
He also triumphed in the 200m freestyle with a time of 1:58.15 over Davao Region's Paolo Miguel Labanon (1:58.21) and NCR's Ivo Nikolai Enot (2:01.10); and was part of the winning 4x100m freestyle team with Kevin Arguzon, Eric Jacob Umali and Nimrod Montera (3:38.83), beating NCR’s Hugh Antonio Parto, Admiel Percy Sajise, Rain Andrei Tumulac and Enot (3:39.80); and Central Luzon’s Timothy Ram Capulong, Ian Patrick Aquino, Seb Rafael Santos and Gerald Joven Esquivel (3:46.21).
Amaro collected a total of seven gold medals, the others coming from the 50m and 100m butterfly, 100m freestyle, and 4x100m medley relay with Dean, Joart Calderon and Reineile Jan Mikos Trinidad.
Meanwhile, Mojdeh clocked 5:12.19 in the 400m Individual Medley (IM) for her fifth gold medal in the girls' 13-18 category. She bested Lhiazel Fei Dollente of NCR (5:25.91) and Kacie Gabrielle Tionko of Central Visayas (5:31.50).
Mojdeh also won the 200m IM, 100m butterfly, 200m butterfly and 200m breaststroke, the last two events she won in record-fashion.
Dean topped the boys' 13-18 400m IM with a time of 4:50.26, beating Anton Paulo Dominick Della of Ilocos Region (4:51.91) and Aishel Cid Evangelista of National Capital Region (4:53.29).
It was Dean's fourth gold medal after dominating the 200m IM, 4x50m medley relay and 4x100m medley relay.
As of 7:30 p.m., perennial champion NCR has an overall tally of 61-47-56 gold-silver-bronze, followed by Calabarzon (42-32-36) and Western Visayas (39-29-31).
NCR has 27-14-18 in the elementary level, followed by Western Visayas (16-13-7) and Calabarzon (14-12-14).
In the secondary level, NCR is ahead with 34-33-38, Calabarzon has 28-20-22 and Western Visayas 23-15-24.
In the volleyball secondary girls, NCR (Far Eastern University-Diliman High School) and Western Visayas (Bacolod Tay Tung High School) will dispute the title at San Jose-Recoletos Basak Campus on Monday.
John Benedict Aguilar of Saint Agnes Academy-Albay, meanwhile, bagged Bicol Region’s first ever tennis gold, beating Lexious Gabriel Cruz of Central Luzon, 8-1, in Saturday’s final.
Bicol is running eighth overall with 13-12-12.
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