It could have been third place overall

Lingayen, Pangasinan — Almost, but not quite.

For the nth time, Region 7 settled for fourth overall  but nearly finished a rank higher as the 2012 Palarong Pambansa drew to a close yesterday with Central Visayas ending the final day with two golds and two silver medals.

Region 7 tallied 305.17 points, just slightly behind third placer Region 14-A’s 335.50 total.

As expected, powerhouse National Capital Region (NCR), retained the overall crown by tallying 733 points. Region 6 came in second with 452.

Region 7 came so close to overtaking Region 4-A for third spot. It may have been a different story had it fared well in baseball, basketball or softball where a gold is worth 25 points.

Last year, Region 7 produced multiple golds in gymnastics, swimming and boxing but failed to win a single gold in these events this year. Golds in those events are worth seven points each.

Region 7’s output this year was lower compared to last year where it earned 329.

Last year, the elementary athletes tallied 140.50 points while the secondary team had 188.50. This year, the elementary and secondary athletes had 152.50 and 152.67, respectively.

SATISFIED

Nonetheless, DepEd-7 officials were satisfied with the Region 7’s performance.

“We were happy with our showing. We didn’t expect that we could be that close to overtaking Region 4-A,” said Vivian Ginete, chief of the resource mobilization, special programs and projects of DepEd-7.

“We could have a better finish if we had enough resources and we had the facilities for our athletes’ training,” Ginete said.

Ginete said the DepEd Central Office allotted P5 million for Region 7’s stint this year but the ideal amount should have been P8 million.

“That P5 million is only for the 495 athletes. We also had to spend for the security personnel, cook and insurances of the kids,” said Ginete. “We also need budget for the training of the athletes. Western Visayas is so competitive because they have a year-round training and we don’t have funds for that.”

Ginete said Dr. Carmelita Dulangon, DepEd-7 director, was elated with the performance of the Region 7 athletes.

“We want to thank the athletes who really trained hard and did their best for the region. We went to Oslob or Lapu-Lapu and I personally saw how hard the students prepared for the competition. We also want to thank the sports coordinators and other members of the delegation who really worked hard for the region,” said Ginete.

The final tally saw Region 10 finishing fifth with 170 followed by Region 3 (157), Region 12 (125.17), Region 4-B (117.17), Region 1 (97.01), Region 11 (96.50), CARAA (87.50), Region 9 (46.17), Region 2 (31.50), Region 5 (30.50), ARMM (19), CARAGA (14.17) and Region 8 (5.17).

STRONG FINISH

The final day ended with Region 7 winning two of four championship games.

The secondary volleyball (see separate story) and elementary football won golds while the boys secondary volleyball and football teams settled for silvers.

Gold in the volleyball and football is worth 25 points each, while silver is good for 15 points.

The elementary football team bucked fatigue as it had to play two games in a matter of hours. The Joselito Bono-coached team first routed NCR, 5-0, in the morning semis then returned two hours later to crush Region 10, 6-1 for the gold.

Region 10 jumped the gun on Region 7 when Christian Pabolacan scored in the ninth minute. Region 7 was quick to answer as Ryan James Haosen came up with his own goal a minute later, tying the count at 1-all.

Ryan James Haosen accounted for Region 7’s first goal in the second half before Phil Harritz Libatog added another in the 32nd minute. Glen Thomas followed with a goal in the 35th before Haosen struck two more goals to ice the lopsided win.

“I just asked them during the break if they were already contented with the halftime score. Good thing they responded with a solid second half,” said Bono, who also steered the team to championship finishes in the 2006 and 2008 editions of the annual meet.

Region 10 defeated Region 7 in last year’s final.

The secondary team failed to duplicate what the elementary achieved as it lost to NCR, 0-2, in their own gold-medal match.