STEADILY improving Olympic hopeful Lauren Hoffmann leads 13 FilAm Sports-backed athletes in the US who are scheduled to see action in the ICTSI Philippine Athletics Championships from May 8 to 12 at the PhilSports track oval in Pasig.
Hoffmann, who set a new Philippine record of 55.72 seconds when she finished a close second in the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa, over the weekend, will first see action in the Hong Kong Athletics Championships this weekend, according to FilAm Sports representative and 1992 Barcelona Olympian Ed Lasquete.
“Lauren will see action first in the Hong Kong meet then join the rest of the team in Manila,” Lasquete, a three-time men’s pole vault Southeast Asian Games gold medalist, said.
Thanks to her sterling showing in the Drake Relays, the former Duke University track ace moved up two notches higher to No. 34 in the latest World Athletics qualifying rankings where the top 40 at the cut-off date of July 7 will compete in the Paris Olympic Games.
Aside from Hoffmann, also competing in the HK competition are middle distance runner Hussein Lorana, whose forte is the 400 and 800 meters; and Tokyo Olympian and sprinter Kristina Knott, according to athletics secretary general Jasper Tanhueco.
Lasquete said among those coming over for the competition popularly known as the National Open is top middle-distance runner Victoria Bossong, who is very close to meeting the Olympic entry standard of 1:59.30. She has a personal best of 2:0.92 set at the Pepsi Florida Relays last March.
“We are now in the process of helping Victoria secure a Philippine passport, and hopefully we will have it before the National Open,” Lasquete said of the athlete, whose mother, Catalina Atienza, a dentist in Portland, was born and raised in the Philippines.
Lasquete said the other athletes coming are 19th Hangzhou Asian Games veteran Angel Frank, Danae Manibog, pole vaulters Elijah Cole, Alyana Nicolas, Audrey Agcaoili and Enzo Sison; Yacine Guermali, AJ Ricketts, Sidney Yap, Connor Henderson and Miles Mingo.
Frank is entered in the 100, 200 and 400-meter races while Manibog will run in the 200 and 400-meter distances.
