IN a promising sign for her build-up to the 33rd Thailand Southeast Asian Games in December, Sarah Dequinan scored 5,605 points to clinch the gold in the women’s heptathlon of the Malaysian Open Athletics Championships at the Tuanku Syed Putra Stadium in Kangar, Malaysia.
A back-to-back silver Southeast Asian Games medalist in the grueling seven-event discipline in the 31st Vietnam and 32nd Cambodia SEA Games after ruling it in the Philippine edition in 2019, Dequinan, 32, bested two Malaysian bets in clinching the mint.
She was one of two athletes sent by Philippine Athletics who brought home golds in the Malaysian meet, with Jeralyn Rodriguez, 18, marking her international debut for the country by topping the women’s 400-meter race in 56.16 seconds.
Also 18, Cebuano Kharis Pantonial took the silver in the men’s 400-meter contest in placing a close second with a time of 47.36 seconds, a half-step behind the Malaysian winner, who timed 47.19 seconds.
Reed-thin Leonard Grospe also took silver in the men’s high jump, clearing 2.15 meters on his third try and was relegated to runner-up honors by a Malaysian jumper, who cleared the same height on his first attempt.
David Matibag placed fifth in the men’s 800-meter finals (1:54.74) while Jelly Paragile was sixth in the women’s 100-meter hurdles finals (14.65).
On the local front, Alfred Taplacido clocked 47.29 seconds to set a new national under-20 mark in topping the 400-meter race of the Patafa weekly relays at the Philsports track oval in Pasig City over the weekend.
Taplacido bested the previous mark of 47.29 in the event set by Pantonial last June 7 at the Taiwan Open in Kaoshiung, Taiwan.
