UP's Juliana Talaro (left) is poised to break away from UST's Azeneth Serat on the way to ruling the women's 10-kilometer walkathon for the third straight time yesteday in the ICTSI Philippine Athletic Championships at the New Clark City Athletic Stadium in Capas, Tarlac. Handout
MANILA, Philippines – University of the Philippines' Juliana Talaro is making a strong case for inclusion in the national athletic pool.
This, as the UP standout clocked a personal best to retain the women's 10,000-meter walk title early Thursday morning for the third straight time in the ICTSI Philippine Athletics Championships at the New Clark City Athletic Stadium.
After a nip-and-tuck daybreak duel with UST's Azeneth Serat, Talaro finally broke away in the last 200 meters to win her pet event by a mile in a time of 55 minutes and 57.21 seconds to the latter's 56:51.95 in the athletic showcase.
University of the East's Sep Placido (57:59.90) rounded out the podium finishers in the first event.
In a battle between friends, Muntinlupa's Wenniel Simba wrested the men's Under-18 5,000-meter walk title from teammate Rain Mabeling, checking in with a time of 27.27.04 to the latter's 27:29.95 in the meet.
Binan's Jaycee Reyes (27:52.94) wound up a distant third in meet serving as one of the qualifiers for both the country's representatives in the 33rd Thailand Southeast Asian Games in December and the Asian Youth Games in Manama, Bahrain in October.
As expected, Paris Olympian Lauren Hoffman and former Asian champion Robyn Brown topped their respective heats in the afternoon, setting up a highly-anticipated showdown for the women's 400-meter hurdles crown later in the night.
"Sabi ko po kapag humiwalay ako, kailangan akong dumikit pa rin (kay Serat) para hindi siya makalayo," Talaro, a graduating BS Physical Education student at UP Diliman, said of her close contest with Serat for top honors.
"Nakakuha ako ng second wind ko sa last five laps," added the athlete, who first won the event in 2023 when the National Open, as the meet is popularly known, was held in Ilagan, Isabela. "Hopefully, makasama na po ako sa national pool."
Serat, who had taken the early lead and was still leading until fading in the backstretch, said the early morning heat had taken its toll and could not keep up with Talaro's relentless pace once she started to pull away.
"Napagod na po ako dahil sa sobrang init. Hindi po ako masyadong sanay. Nagkulang po ako ng endurance," said the UST sophomore PE student.
"Okay lang na ibigay ko ang korona kay Wenniel since magkaibigan naman kami," said Mabeling, 17, who won the event in the 2024 edition held at the Philsports track oval in Pasig City.
Among those scheduled to see action on Friday are two-time men's Southeast Asian Games shot put champion Willie Morrison and Fil-Am pole vaulter Elijah Cole.