THE ANNUAL Philippine Amateur Track and Field Association (PATAFA) weekly relays had its opening day last week, November 7 in the Ultra Oval in Pasig. Different schools, most of which come from Metro Manila, joined the relays—featuring athletes from elementary to college. Participation, however, was also open to non-students.
Usually taking place from July to November, the weekly relays have been moved to a later date this year due to the ongoing renovation of the Rizal Memorial Track Oval. This year, the weekly relays are scheduled place from November to late January.
Coming off their recent triumph in the Unigames in Dumaguette, The Blue and Lady Tracksters will join the relays to further hone their skills leading up to UAAP this February. In last week’s opening day, the Blue Tracksters joined the 4x400m and Classical relays and the 200m dash, as practice competition.
The second week of the PATAFA weekly relays continued Sunday, where the Blue Tracksters participated in the long jump, 110m high hurdles, shot-put, and discus throw. The sheer number of participants coming from the different elementary schools and the lack of field officials created long waiting periods between events – making it an inconvenience for all athletes. Events were delayed, eventually causing the javelin throw and triple jump to be canceled for the day.
Despite the poor scheduling conflicts, the Blue Tracksters stayed in good form. Among the highlights of the day was sophomore Dean Roxas’ impressive finish in the 110m high hurdles, where he finished a close second to a rival UST hurdler.
Rookie thrower Jose Delos Reyes made his competition debut competing in shot-put and discus. The Ateneo Grade School and High School tracksters also competed, showing strong performances in the middle to long distance events and in the 110m and 400m hurdles, respectively.
Points will be tallied over the course of the weekly relays based on the athletes’ standings against competition. Qualification for the PATAFA Finals will depend on the amount of points scored by the athlete and the overall champions will be based on a team’s accumulation of points. The PATAFA Finals will take place in January in either Rizal Memorial or Ultra.
