Capas: National team members Junel Gobothia and Jessa Mae Roda dominated their divisions in the ICTSI Philippine Open 3000m steeplechase event at New Clark City Athletics Stadium in Capas, Tarlac Friday. Gobothia clocked nine minutes and 8.35 seconds to win the event for the third time in the men's division, while Roda ruled the distaff side in 10:38.57.
According to Philippines News Agency, the 28-year-old Gobothia recently bagged the silver medal with a time of 9:15.39, while Roda (11:18.86) placed fifth at the New Taipei City Athletics Open in Chinese-Taipei. Gobothia expressed optimism about his performance stating, "It's good that this was better than my last run in Taiwan because coach Vertek (Eduardo Buenavista) and I are chasing the qualifying time for the Asian Games of 8:36.57."
Coach Eduardo Buenavista, a top marathoner and former Southeast Asian Games steeplechase champion, mentioned he will endorse Gobothia and Roda to be included in the Philippine squad for the 20th Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games in September. The qualifying time for the Asian Games in the women's 3000m steeplechase is 9:47.53.
Meanwhile, Far Eastern University's Rica Balderama, also a member of the national team, excelled in the women's long jump, achieving a personal best of 5.89 meters. Singaporean Enya Chee secured the silver with a jump of 5.79 meters, while Malaysian Aliya Nasaruddin claimed the bronze at 5.76 meters.
