CAPAS, Tarlac – Hussein Loraña narrowly missed a new national mark in ruling the men’s 800-meter race while the KG Mercuries,  led by former national sprinter Anfernee Lopena, sprang out of nowhere to rule the men’s 4×100-meter relay on the penultimae day of the ICTSI Philippine Athletic Championships presented by the Philippine Sports Commission Saturday night.

In another event-filled day at the New Clark City Athletic Stadium, 33rd Thailand Southeast Asian Games gold medalist came from behind in the last 100 meters to surge past erstwhile frontrunner Oyam Kent Espinosa in checking in at one minute and 48.39 seconds.

He was just .87 of a second off the seven-year-old national standard of 1:47.52 set by Fil-Am Carter Lilly on April 19, 2019 at the Bryan Clay International in Azusa, California in the meet co-presented by BCDA and New Clark City.

It was the third men’s 800-meter title for ther former UAAP Season 86 MVP in the athletic showcase with the ICTSI Foundation as  title sposor.

A two-time SEA Games men’s 100-meter bronze medalist, Lopena led off for a strong start for the KG Mercuries, which was sustained by second and third runners Vicjardi Tapia and Ralp Anthony Lego.

It was left for PRISAA track standout Kent Paul Burdan as the anchor leg to bring the gold home in a victorious time of 40.56 seconds of the championships sponsored by CEL Logistics Inc. and UAAGI Auto Group Inc.

Pinoy Athletics settled for silver (40.57) while the national team (40.70) was relegated to bronze in the competition organized by Philippine Athletics also supported by Pocari Sweat, Clark Water and Masiv Sports.

But the night did not go well for the national women  quartet of Lauren Hoffman, Kristina Knott, Jessica Laurance and Lianne Diane Palma after the squad was disqualified for a faulty hand-off from Knott to Laurance.

Malaysia secured gold (45.63), UST got silver (48.62) and La Salle-Taft (48.90) in a 1-2-3 finish in the women’s 4×100-meter relay of the tournament also backed Energya and Cherrylume.

Under a new coach, 33rd Thai SEAG veteran Fil-Am Sydney Joshua Yap heaved the hammer throw to a personal best of 50.65 meters for his first gold in the meet after taking runner-up honors in the previous edition.

Aided by closest foe John Celestino Romero’s  failure to score in the pole vault, Janry Ubas completed a golden double in scoring  6,440 points in capturing mint in the the grueling decathlon.

Under the banner of the Philippine Vault Club, Romero got the silver (5,865) and UST’s Rolly Royo bronze (5,634) in the 10-event discipline.

Early Sunday morning, 33rd Thailand SEAG marathon silver medalists Sonny Wagdos and Artjoy  Torregosa, who competed in a 21k road race  of the Manila Marathon the previous day, still had enough energy  spare in topping the men’s and women’s 10,000-meter runs, respectively.

Competing in their third event since Tuesday, Wagdos clocked 31.10. 64 for his second medal in the trackfest after getting silver behind Yacine Guermali in the men’s 5,000-meter race.

Torregosa added her second mint with a winning  time  36.34.74 of following to the 5,000-meter title she won earlier.

“Allthough  sa tingin ko kaya ko naman na ma-break yung record It though sa tamahong panahon pa yon,” said Loraña after his near record-breaking performance.

“I am hoping to break it sa Asian Under-23 championships in Ordos, China next month,” added the athlete of the inaugural Asian U23 meet to be held in the Chinese city from July 9 to 12.

“Ang sabi ko sa mga kakampi ko na hindi kami underdog at malakas kami na sa amin ang PRISA triple gold medalist (Burdan) and NCAA best freshman (Tapia),” noted  Lopena.

“We knew we could win this race.”

“Solid team yan,” Clinton Kingsley said matter-of-factly of the  champion relay squad after he and fellow PH relay members Al Hyan Labita,  Kent Francis Jardin and Kharis Pantonial were left biting the KG Mercuries’ dust.