PUERTO PRINCESA. — Grief can either break or make you.
Rather than drowning in sorrow, Franklin Careta has been using his winning exploits in the high jump as a continuing tribute to his late elder brother and supporter Michael John.
Careta’s latest triumph came Tuesday when he ruled his pet event in a new meet record of 1.98 meters in the Batang Pinoy National Championships at the Ramon V. Mitra Jr. Sports Complex here.
On a bright and sunny early morning, Catera, 16, erased the old mark of 1.97 meters in the boys’ under-18 division he set in in the 2023 Manila edition of the meet at the Philsports track oval in Pasig City.
The Tigbauan National High School Grade 10 student rededicated his latest win in the competition organized by the Philippine Sports Commission to his late elder brother and main supporter Michael John, who passed away last year.
Careta’s latest triumph was .20 meters better than this golden jump in the Palarong Pambansa in Cebu City last July.
Masbate’s Alessandra Nicole won the other gold medal disputed in morning action, topping the girls’ under-18 triple jump with a leap of 11.20 meters, tying the old mark set by Desiree Ann Alaba in the competition last year in Manila.
In late overnight results, US-trained athlete Haylee Garcia stamped her class by sweeping all five events in the girls’ senior division of women’s artistic gymnastics at the Gymnastics Association of the Philippines training center in Intramuros, Manila.
Coached by Van Talingting at the Arizona Dreams Gymnastics Club in Prescott, Arizona, Garcia bagged the individual all-around mint with a combined tally of 46.9 points after topping the balance beam (11.85), floor exercise (12.6), uneven bars (10.9) and vault (11.775).
Over at the RVM pool, the bids of Arvin Taguinota and Sophia Rose Garra of Pasig and Malabon, respectively, to annex their fourth straight golds were foiled in the sportsfest supported by the Puerto Princesa City government led by Mayor Lucilo Bayron, Pocari and Summit Mineral Water.
The most bemedalled athlete in last year’s BP Nationals at the Teofilo Yldefonso pool in Manila, Taguinota lost by an eye-blink in the boys’ 12 to 13-year-old 100-meter butterfly race to General Santos City’s Christian Isaiah Lagnason, who won in 1:02.35.
The top pick in the girls’ 12 to 13-year-old 100-meter breaststroke based on her seed time of 2:51, Garra had an off day and was relegated to fourth place (2:59.89) in the event won by Baguio City’s Jan Eowyn Caruncho in 2:54.93.
“You win some, you lose some. This is what I told Sophia after she lost. She was off but I know she’ll learn from it,” noted coach and Sydney Olympian Jennifer Guerrero.
Joining the ranks of triple gold medalists was Naga’s Albert Jose Amaro II, who set a new meet record in winning the 16 to 17-year-old boys in 24.32 seconds, surpassing his previous mark of 24.53 last year.
His other triumph later in the day came in the 100-meter butterfly race where he clocked 57.79 seconds.
Also picking up her third mint was Aklan’s Nuche Veronica Ibit, who ruled the girls’ 14 to 15-year-old freestyle race in 28.25 seconds.
