CAPAS, Tarlac — Junel Gobotia and Jessa Mae Roda delivered standout performances to win their respective divisions in the ICTSI Philippine Open 3,000m steeplechase at the New Clark City Athletics Stadium on Friday.
Gobotia dominated the men’s race in 9:08.35, securing his third title in the event. Roda followed suit in the women’s category, finishing strong with a winning time of 10:38.57.
Gobotia, who recently earned a silver medal in the New Taipei City Athletics Open with 9:15.39, said the result shows progress as he targets the Asian Games qualifying mark of 8:36.57 under coach Eduardo Buenavista.
Roda also improved from her previous international outing, where she placed fifth in Chinese Taipei.
Buenavista noted that both athletes are strong candidates for the Philippine squad bound for the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.
Elsewhere in the meet, FEU’s Rica Balderama produced a personal best of 5.89m to win the women’s long jump. She edged out Singapore’s Enya Chee (5.79m) and Malaysia’s Aliya Nasaruddin (5.76m).
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