Unheralded Fullbright College, bannered by Glyzzel Ann Monsanto, completed a golden sweep of its athletic events in ruling the women’s 4×400-meter relays in the Air Force women’s division of the ROTC Games Luzon eliminations at the Cavite State University track oval on Wednesday, September 20.

Monsanto was again at the forefront of Fullbright’s assault, fuelling the squad that included Kianah Bonbon Jean Claire Agawin and Hannah Trishia Viloria to a runaway triumph in five minutes and 31.0 seconds in the meet jointly organized by the Department of National Defense and Committee on Higher Education.

Monsanto likewise accomplished a golden quadruple, counting her victories in the women’s 100 and 200-meter runs and the 4×100-meter relay, for the honor as the most bemedaled athlete in the Games also supported by the Philippine Sports Commission and the Office of Sen. Francis Tolentino.

University of Cagayan Valley’s John Andre Ponce also had a prolific performance in anchoring his squad to victory in the Navy men’s division of the 4×400-meter relays in 3:59.80 in the competition also backed by Tagaytay City government led by Mayor and Philippine Olympic Committee president Bambol Tolentino.

Including his wins in the men’s 100 and 200 meters and the squad’s runner-up finish in the men’s 4×100-meter relays, Ponce was the top medalist in the Navy men’s division of the Luzon qualifiers also hosted by Indang City Mayor Perfecto Fidel.

“Katulad ng sinabi ko nun, hindi ko po talaga ini-expect na manalo dito kasi hindi naman masyadong focused sa sports ang aming school. Kaya maasayang-masaya kami sa mga medalyang nakuha namin dito the Luzon ROTC Games,” said Monsanto of the school’s unexpected productive campaign.

“Sobrang taas na level na competition para sa amin ito,” added the athlete, who saw action in the women’s long jump and triple jump of the 2018 and 2019 Palarong Pambansa held in Vigan, Ilocos Sur and Davao City, respectively.

She credited teacher-coach Socorro Dasilio, a Palaro veteran, for training them despite the limited time for the competition that resulted in their success.

“Masaya kasi matagal na panahon din bago nakabalik sa athletic kahit walang training na maayos,” noted Viloria, who competed olleced two golds and a silver medal for her efforts.

Both revealed that the majority of them trained on dirt tracks most of the time during their high school days so were thankful they were able to train at the track oval of the Palawan Sports Complex in Puerto Princesa before coming over for the Luzon ROTC Games.

In kickboxing preliminaries over at the Tagaytay Combat Sports Center, Army cadet Krys John Dumangeng of Kalinga State University won impressively, scoring a third-round technical knockout win over Don Mariano Marco State University’s Ian Espiritu Ledrhon in men’s 63.5-kilogram division.

Cavite State University had something to cheer for as hometown bet Maria Bantaya scored an easy 3-0 triumph over University of Batangas-Lipa Queen Dhylan Ortega in the 52kg class in a women’s Army clash.

Bantaya’s teammate Nicolas Rendon was not as fortunate, suffering a second-round loss to PLT College’s Novel Lozano in the second round of their clash in the 57kg clash in the men’s Army division.

University of Baguio’s Christopher John Manipon also had an abbreviated victory after the referee stopped the contest early in the match against John Paul College’s Sandy Galario, who took a blow to the head in their 57kg encounter.