UY SETS NEW GAMES POLE VAULT RECORD

NEW Clark City—Natalie Uy soared to a pole vault record and William Morrison set a new standard in men’s shot put to make up for Marestella Torres-Sunang’s shortcoming in her final Southeast (SEA) Games performance on Sunday at the Athletics Stadium.

Cheered on by the predominantly Filipino gallery of 8,000, Uy cleared 4.25 meters to tie her own national mark, while smashing the old SEAG record of 4.21 meters set by Thai Sukanya Chomcuendee in the 2013 edition held Myanmar.

Winding up a distant second was 2017 winner Chomchuendee (4.10), while compatriot Chontincha Khabut (4.00) settled for silver in Day two of track and field action at the 20,000-seat stadium.

The Dayton, Ohio native, whose father is a Filipino, emerged as the first Filipina pole vaulter in the Games history to bag a gold and capped a Filipino sweep of the event, also for the first time, at the Games after Ernest John Obiena easily clinched the mint in the men’s side the previous day.

Uy’s triumph softened the impact of the losses suffered earlier by Kristina Marie Knott, who topped the women’s 200-meter run last Saturday, in the century dash.

Vietnam’s Le Tu Chinh avenged her loss to Knott in the 200, nipping her Fil-Am rival at the tape in retaining her 100-meter title in 11.54 seconds to the latter’s 11.55. Singapore veteran Shanti Veronica Pereira (11.66) took the bronze.

The other local entry, Zion Corrales Nelson, finished last among the eight runners in 11.90 seconds.

“This [victory] is absolutely amazing and I’ve been enjoying the journey so far. The crowd was so nice and I was inspired by them” said Uy, who now trains full-time at Kentucky League Athletics managed by

Earl Bell, the bronze medalist in the pole vault at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

With the gold safely tucked under her belt after clearing 4.25 meters, the winsome athlete set the bar at 4.35 meters, but discontinued after two failed tries, then waved to the crowd in gratitude for their support.

She also hugged athletics Philip Ella Juico, who arrived just in time to witness Uy’s golden performance.

Mariano Masano pulled off a pleasant surprise, securing the silver in the men’s 1,500-meter run in 4:08.27 behind Vietnam’s Duong Van Thai, who ruled the event in 4:06.63.

Long jump queen TorresSunang, in her final SEA Games, missed the podium with her 6.16-meter effort.