DAGUPAN CITY --- The Western Visayas lady tankers seized 10 golds, one silver and two bronzes yesterday to finish with a 20-17-7 medal count and rule in the National Private Schools and Athletics Association Games swimming competitions at the City Olympic Pool here.

But the Ronald Sta. Ana-mentored Region VI men's swimming team failed to duplicate the lady tanker's feat, finishing second behind Calabarzon.

The male takers took four golds, one silver and six bronzes yesterday and finished with a 10-7-10 medal-haul.

But Calabarzon tallied a 10-gold, 15-silver, 3-bronze haul to rule the division.

Calabarzon (7-7-1) and Central Visayas (6-5-15) finished second and third, respectively, in the women's division, while the Southern Mindanao placed third in the men's category with an 8-5-8 medal tally.

Kristine Cabasac, 18, led the charge for the Western Visayas aquabelles winning six golds after posting golden finishes in the women's 400-meter freestyle and 4x100-m medley relay.

Cabasac, a Civil Engineering student at the University of San Agustin-Iloilo, booked a time of five minutes and 42.60 seconds to rule the 400-m free, beating Essence Portacio of Central Luzon (5:57.60) and teammate Charmaine Galang (5:59.45).

Joining Cabasac in the triumphant women's 4x100-m medley that clocked 5:26.37 were Angela Luz Tuble and Negrenses Nianhlyn Acain and Rheza Gonzales. Calabarzon placed second in 5:42.61.

Acain, a 17-year-old freshman at the University of St. La Salle, also came up big for the Region VI lady swimmers as she also reigned supreme in the women's 200-m individual medley in 2:54.38, defeating rival Astrud Valdez of Calabarzon (2:57.59) and Essence (3:04.47).

Acain brought home a total of five golds and two silvers in the hostilities, while Cabasac also had a silver Tuesday.

Western Visayas bets Tanya Lagtapon, Galang, Marvie Joy Reyes and Melrose Cordero also gave the Region VI's women's squad four golds yesterday when they won the 4x200-m free relay with a 12:22.96 clocking, ahead of Bicol (12:39.83) and Central Visayas (13:02.18).

The team of Michael Balinas, Kevin King, Brian Caluba and Jmark Cabasac cornered four golds for the Western Visayas male tankers after they ruled the 4x200-m free relay in 9:39.44, beating Calabarzon (9:44.57) and Central Visayas (9:49.44).

The National PRISAA rookie King, a gold medalist in the men's 1,500-m free Wednesday, also snared a silver yesterday in the men's 400-m free after clocking 4:53.92, behind Haroon Cali of Southern Mindanao (4:48.17). Region VI's Mark Catalan placed third in 4:59.95.

Catalan was also a member of the men's 4x100-m medley that snatched four bronze medals with a 4:48.56 clocking. With Catalan were Erik Litonjua of La Salle, Peter Macundo and Dax Donguines.

Calabarzon, composed of Jinno Salvacion, Rudolfo Lee, Mikko Carlos and Sato Lipat, topped the men's 4x100-m medley (4:33.94), while Central Visayas finished second (4:41.81).

Karl Roger Jayme added a bronze for Western Visayas in the men's 50-m breaststroke (34.61 seconds) just like University of Negros Occidental-Recoletos standout Rheza Gonzales in the women's 50-m breast (40.87 sec.).

Women's 50-m free gold medal winner Editha Visitacion, also of UNO-R, bagged a silver yesterday in the 50-m butterfly with a time of 34.91 sec.

Southern Mindanao bet Shahani Navarro gained the top honors (34.86 sec.), while Valdez took third place (35.76 sec.).

Salvacion spearheaded the campaign of the Calabarzon male tankers after taking three golds and two silvers. *CIT s

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WV keeps rivals at bay
Lady tankers drown foes; Men's team place second
Athletics squad finishes third