CEBU — Darell Bada unleashed a strong finishing kick to foil Carron Canas while Adrian Ungos flashed her superb biking skills to upend Caelle Avanzado as the Olongapo Junior Trackers clinched top honors in the IRONKIDS Philippines in Lapu-Lapu City here Saturday.
Bada rallied from third after the swim leg with a blast of a run at The Mactan Newtown, bagging the boys’ 13-14 diadem in 33:22.0 with clocking of 05:00 (swim), 18:40 (bike) and 09:42 (run). He thwarted Canas, who co-led with Connor Hodges in swim (04:55), hung tough in the bike (18:44) but lost in the closing run (10:29) and finished with 34:08.0.
Hodges wound up third with a 35:13.0 clocking in the 400-m swim, 12-km bike and 3-km run race.
Ungos put up a more impressive fightback, rebounding from fifth in swim with a blistering performance in the bike on her way to matching Bada’s feat in the premier 13-14 division of the four age-category event marking the return of the junior version of the IRONMAN after a long hiatus.
Ungos struggled with a 6:30 clocking (swim) against Avanzado’s 05:51 but timed a fast 19:32 in the bike to wrest control en route to claiming the girls’ crown in 38:23.0 despite slowing down in the run with a 12:21 clocking.
Avanzado yielded the lead with a 21:34 time in bike and fell short of her rally despite a best 11:50 clocking in the run. She finished with 39:15.0.
Celinda Raagas came in third in 40:15.0.
Christy Ann Perez and Yvaine Osias, meanwhile, provided a thriller of a duel in girls’ 11-12 with Perez winning by mere eight seconds in stark contrast to the title chase in the boys’ side which Peter del Rosario ruled in wire-to-wire fashion.
Perez trailed Osias by two seconds in swim (03:03-03:01), seized a slight edge in bike (16:24-16:27) before holding sway in the closing run (09:39-09:46) for a total clocking of 29:06.0 over the 400m swim, 6km bike and 2km run distance.
Osias finished with 29:14.0 while Fritzie Surima placed third in 30:26.0 (03:19, 16:59, 10:08).