Fil-American athletes, pakitang-gilas sa National Open?

ILAGAN CITY – Hindi nagpahuli ang batang Pinoy sa katatapos na SEA Youth Championships. Ngayon, ang mga pambatong elite tracksters ang magpapamalas ng gilas sa paglarga ng 2019 Philippine National Open Athletics Championships ngayon sa Ilagan City Sports Complex.

Pangungunahan ang grupo ng mga Fil-American recruit, tampok ang dalawang mayuming pole vaulters na sina Natalie Uy at Alyana Nicolas ang hanay ng Team Philippines laban sa mga dayuhang karibal sa taunang torneo na pagbabasehan para sa National team na isasabak sa 30th Southeast Asian Games sa Nobyembre sa Manila.

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“I’m looking to win here for sure. My goal always is to win. My target is to jump around 4.20 meters,” pahayag ni Uy, anak ng isang Cebuano. “In the SEAG, I’m very confident. I think if I can get the right training and get everything I need, I think I can go for gold.”

Para makasiguro, kakailanganin ng 24-anyos na si Uy na malagpasan ang personal-best na 4.30 meters na nagawa niya sa Spain kung saan siya sumailalim sa pagsasanay habang hinihintay ang kanyang mga dokumento.

Ang 4.30-m ay klarong gintong medalya kung pagbabatayan ang markang 4.10-m sa 2017 SEAG sa Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Nakalinya na si Uy na mapasama sa RP Team na sumabak sa Asian Games sa nakalipas na taon, ngunit nakuha lamang niya ang kanyang Philippine passport sa kalagitnaan na ang pakikibaka ng Pinoy sa quadrennial meet nitong Agosto sa Jakarta at Palembang, Indonesia.

“I’m just excited to be here. It’s a dream come true for me to come here,” sambit ng estudyante mula sa Eastern Michigan University.

“It’s all worth it to be here. It’s just awesome. I love being here. It’s just, like I said, a dream. I’ve been working to come here for a while, working on my citizenship and figuring out all the hurdles to get here,” aniya.

Lumaki sa Ohio si Uy kung kaya’t sa maiksing pamamalagi sa bansa, nais niyang matutunan ng todo ang kultura maging ang wika ng Pinoy.

“I was not able to get my citizenship unfortunately. It’s a long process to get everything. I’m just excited to finally have my passport on hand,” sambit Uy. “It’s my heritage. It’s me. My dad is Filipino. It’s a channel to me to get to know my culture, the other half of me.”

Bukod kay Uy, handa ring magbigay ng karangalan sa bansa si Nicolas sa torneo na inorganisa ng Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association (PATAFA) sa pakikipagtulungan ng Ayala Corporation, Milo, Soleus at City of Ilagan.

Masaya si Nicolas sa kanyang pagbabalik-bayan at sa posibilidad na makapag-ambag ng tagumpay sa bansa.

“I was born here actually. I was born in Quezon City but I grew up in Pagsanjan, Laguna,” pahayag ng 24-anyos mual sa California State Northridge.

“I’m very excited. The Filipino people here are very welcoming. It’s really fun to see everybody working together and I’m just really excited for all the people watching us even in practice. It’s really awesome.”

“I’m just out here to really have fun. I definitely would want to place top three for sure. I’ve been training really hard so I’m really looking forward to my outcome for this meet,” added Nicolas who has a personal-best of 3.93 meters.