The Western Visayas contingent settled for second place in both the elementary and secondary divisions at the close of the 2007 Palarong Pambansa in Koronadal City Saturday.

Region VI compiled 218.5 points, behind National Capital Region's 365.4 which took home the over-all championship crown for the second straight year.

Western Visayas' bridesmaid finish came after victories in, athletics, volleyball, softball, girls' badminton, and boys' table tennis. It also clinched the soccer crown for the third consecutive year with a come-from-behind triumph over NCR (2-1) in the event's last day.

Tanker Carmela Nava bagged one of the last gold medals for Western Visayas with her 200m freestyle win in the secondary division where she clocked two minutes, 18:81 seconds. Nava, a St. Joseph La Salle-School alumna, also helped the Region VI squad take home the silver in the 4x100 freestyle and the bronze in the 4x100 medley.

In high school athletics, Josie Malacad also contributed to the gold medal harvest in the 300m dash while JC Mark Palestero and Keizel Pedrina helped in the 200m events.

The region's girls' team also ruled in the 4x100m and 4x400m relays.

On Wednesday, Maika de Oro shattered a nine-year-old record in discus throw when she registered a 33.07-meter finish that eclipsed Cagayan de Oro's Jihan Badojo's 30.38 previous feat made in Bacolod City.

At the end of the week-long games, De Oro accumulated a total of two gold medals for Western Visayas while Josie Entrina and Sharmaine Joy Bucalig grabbed a silver and a bronze with 35.85 and 34.84 finishes in javelin throw of the secondary division.

In the elementary category, Gil Ryan Buenafe won a gold in long jump while Trinity Christian School's Nikki Therese Servando and Cadiz City's Dhessa Mae Ariño overpowered the pair from Region 7 in the girls' badminton finals in a come-from-behind victory, 15-21, 21-16, 21-17 to bag the gold medal. In the final medal tally, Central Visayas ranked third with 135 points followed by Southern Tagalog Team A (130) and host Cotabato Region with 127 points.*PP

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WV second-best in PalaroS