UNIT 1 IS OVERALL DCAA CHAMPION
Unit 1 boxers dominate competition
Unit 5-Mapua swimmer Paolo Miguel Labanon sweeps 7 golds
Unit 7-Holy Child captures first Dcaa football title after 25 years
UNIT 1 emerged overall champion in the Davao City Athletic Association (Dcaa) Meet 2024, concluding with the swimming competition held at the Davao del Norte Sports Complex (DDNSC) in Tagum City on Sunday afternoon, March 4.
Accumulating 151 gold medals, 112 silvers, and 98 bronzes, Unit 1 dominated both the elementary and secondary divisions.
Unit 3 secured a distant second place with a medal count of 79-72-140, followed by Unit 2 in third place with 75-95-78.
Unit 6, representing the Davao Association of Catholic Schools (Dacs), claimed the fourth spot with an 18-22-15 medal count. Unit 4 (40-36-109) took fifth place, and Unit 5, representing the Private Schools Athletic Association (Prisaa), secured sixth place with 40 golds, 32 silvers, and 14 bronzes.
Units 7 (Dacisaa-Davao Integrated Schools Athletic Association) and 8 (Daprisa-Davao Association of Private Schools and Administrators) finished seventh (27-26-36) and eighth (23-33-21), respectively.
Boxing
Boxers from Unit 1, led by Davao City National High School (DCNHS) and Vicenta C. Nograles National High School (VCNNHS), cornered five golds, three silvers, and one bronze.
Notable victories included John Mooreh Bacsan defeating Ronnie Repe in the youth minimumweight title bout via points and Rich Mon Siega winning the junior pinweight championship against Rafer Arebado of Unit 2.
Youth bantamweight Nico Carlo Insigne of Unit 1 beat David Joseph Carbonell of Unit 2 via a referee-stopped-contest (RSC)-head.
Junior flyweight Brix Allin Batocael and junior light bantamweight Mark Joseph Ducado also contributed golds for Unit 1, outclassing Unit 4 pugs Justin Matunog and Christian Tenorio, respectively.
Silver medalists for Unit 1 were Jet Femme Fornes (school boys pinweight), Niko Gonzales Paguia (junior bantamweight), and John David Angcon (junior light flyweight). Prince Arm Cole added a bronze for Unit 1.
Coach Jay Reeve Guerrero said, “The Unit 1 boxers’ efforts and hard work paid off.” He and Shem Damiles Supino mentored the Unit 1 boxing team.
Swimming
In the Dcaa Meet 2024 swimming competition over at DNNSC, Paolo Miguel Labanon, a Palarong Pambansa 2023 multiple gold medalist and Batang Pinoy 2023 most valuable player (MVP), swept seven gold medals for Unit 5-Prisaa.
Fresh from participating in the Asian Age Group swimming championships at New Clark City in Tarlac, the Grade 11 student from Mapua Malayan Colleges Mindanao (MMCM) dominated the secondary boys freestyle events (1,500-meter, 800m, 400m, 200m) and 200m butterfly.
Additionally, he contributed to two relay golds - 4X50m freestyle and 4X100 freestyle, alongside teammates Jon Raphael Rodriguez, Liam Nigel Rebaya, and Rafael Miguel Cruz.
In a Facebook interview with SunStar Davao on Monday, March 5, Labanon said, “I think I did my best since I came from a competition,” Labanon said in a Facebook interview with SunStar Davao on Monday, March 5. “I was a little bit tired but my motivation was to push on to be better.”
His training would resume immediately for the Davao Region Athletic Association (Davraa) Meet 2024 and the Surigao eight-kilometer open water swimming.
He added, “There will be no off-season for me,” emphasizing his commitment to continuous improvement in his swimming pursuits.
Football
In a thrilling secondary boys football championship match at the Davao City-UP Min Sports Complex in Tugbok, the Holy Child College of Davao (HCCD) Red Eagles, representing Unit 7-Dacisaa, secured a nail-biting 5-4 victory over the Rizal Memorial Colleges (RMC) Bulldogs of Unit 5-PRISAA, concluding with a penalty shootout.
HCCD coach Murphy Jake Somosot said, “Holy Child’s football program started in 1999 and this is our first time to become a Dcaa champion. We made it after 25 years.”
Fellow HCCD coach Ramonito “Lalas” Carreon said goalie Johnwey Llyod Camaria emerged as the hero for the team, making three crucial saves during the shootout.
After a scoreless draw at the end of regulation, the penalty shootout saw kickers from Unit 7 and Unit 5 tying at 3-all. The sudden death phase ended in another deadlock at 4-4. Prince Charl Baculot, Mjie Mallare, Lebron Jay Pinion, and Joshua Arguelles were Unit 7’s penalty kick contributors in the win.
In the subsequent round, Camaria’s save against Unit 5’s goal, coupled with Ahron Kyle Morales Capul’s successful kick, sealed the victory.
In the semifinals, Unit 7 prevailed over Unit 3 from Crossing Bayabas National High School (CBNHS) with a 2-1 win, courtesy of goals from Ken Luis Asupra and Michael John Penafiel in the 15th and 42nd minutes, respectively.
Unit 7’s journey included an 8-1 victory over Unit 4 in the preliminary matches, a narrow loss to RMC-Unit 5 (0-1), and a comeback with a 2-0 shutout of Ateneo de Davao University (AdDU)-led Unit 6-Dacs.