Catiil leans on bike skills to rule duathlon event

MANILA, Philippines – Niel Catiil leaned on another strong showing in his favorite bike stage to top Sunday’s 2nd Leg Powerade National Duathlon Open Series at the Macapagal Avenue in Parañaque City. Catiil engaged first leg champion Robeno Javier in a tight race in the 7-kilometer first run leg of the run-bike-run event before stamping his class in the bike part to coast to an easy victory. “My strength is really in the bike," said Catiil, who skipped the series’ first leg last March 28 to compete in the Mekong River event in Thailand. Catiil earlier made heads turn when he emerged with the best time among both the local and foreign competitors in the bike leg of the recent Subic International Triathlon, finishing fifth overall. For this race, he negotiated the 30-K bike stage in just 40 minutes en route to a winning time of one hour, 18 minutes and 43 seconds. “I could have submitted a better time but I decided to just pace myself in the last run leg since I’ve just recuperated from a right leg hamstring injury. But overall, I’m satisfied with my performance," Catiil said. Javier crossed the finish line three minutes and two seconds behind the champion (1:21:45) while reigning national duathlon champion Augusto Benedicto settled for third with 1:22:36. “I had a hard time trying to catch Catiil in the bike leg and it took its toll in the (final) run event," said Javier. Reigning women’s duathlon champion Monica Torres played true to form in topping fellow national athletes Kim Mangrobang and Mirasol Abad in the female side. Torres, who also missed the first leg of the three leg series due her stint at the Thailand event, led from start to finish and submitted the best time at 1:28:13. Mangrobang, who brought home a gold and silver from the Mekong event, settled for runner-up honors with 1:31:39 while Abad, a former dragon boat athlete now in the endurance sport, took third place with 1:37:17. Leading the winners in the age-group competitions were two fresh faces in the national pool, 16-year-old Johanna Pe Benito and 17-year-old Philip Jurolan, who ruled the 16 to 19 age group with times of 2:01:26 and 1:28:24, respectively. Other winners in the male age-group were Carlo Jose Pedregosa (20-24); Roldan Antonio (25-29); Jeff Valdez (30-34); Abe Tayag (35-39); Jose Trinidad (40-44); Joevic Pajarillo (45-49); and Bernardo Carpio (50-above). Jennifer Oliva (20-29); Joyette Jopson (30-39); and Alessandra Beltran (40-above) joined Pe Benito as gold medalists in the women’s age-group competitions. - GMANews.TV