FOR the second straight year, the province of Benguet will once again host more than 50 sports personalities who have helped promote the province in the field of sports.
Back – to – back Southeast Asian Games gold medal winners in kickboxing Gina Iniong and Jean Claude Saclag will banner the awards ceremony that will include 57 individuals during the Cordillera Athletes Recognition of Excellence Awards set April 14.
The two Team Lakay members won the mints in the 2019 edition in Manila and in last year’s Vietnam staging of the biennial event delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Their head coach, both in kickboxing and Team Lakay, Mark Sangiao will get the executive award on the second staging of the annual awards, which provincial sports coordinator Mark Dean Monang said will be an institutionalized event to honor excelling athletes.
The patriarch of the running, biking, swimming or triathlon family Jethro “Jet” Ramos will get the coach of the year plum.
Other top awardees are World Muay Thai gold medalist Edel Ali Ngina, son of muay Thai coach Edzel, as young sportsman, taekwondo mentor Danrey Velo as sportsman of the year and Denesia Esnara as para-athlete of the year.
Martial artists dominated the list of athletes to be cited by the province led by Gov. Melchor Diclas with most of them coming from Team Lakay.
Six of them are from the Samahang Kickboxing ng Pilipinas with Zephrenia Ngaya, Emmanuel Cantores, former ONE featherweight king Honorio Banario, Claudine Veloso, Kurt Lubrica, Karol Maguide as well as Carlos Alvarez, beside coach Jaybe Ban-eg, who is also with the coaching staff of the vovinam team led by Geje Eustaquio. Ryan Batinay is the third member of the vovinam coaching staff.
Jenelyn Olsim, will lead the march of awardees in vovinam with Carlo Von Buminaang.
Muay Thai will have Erika Islay Bomogao, Ariel Lee Lamacan, young Clark Fattit and coach Zaidi Laruan.
Charmea Lumipao, Mariane Mariano and Jones Llabares Inso will hold high the banners of kurash, sambo and wushu, specifically taolu, in that order.
Lou Ann Ramos, granddaughter of Midland founder Sinai Hamada, and her kids complete the triathlete family as she and her kids Josh, Dayshaun or Dash and Arrow will be given citations also.
Orlando Smith Jr. and Jason Baucas will be given also their citation for their feats in bodybuilding and wrestling, while World Cup bound Jaclyn Sawicki completes the 26 athletes list of the first batch of citation.
Sawicki is part of the national women’s football team or the Malditas, which routed HongKong, 4-0, Wednesday night in the Women’s Olympics qualifying Asia. Her team will face off with Myanmar on May 3.
Nineteen taekwondo fighters, four from jiu-jitsu and three MMA fighters are included in the first batch of awardees.
ONE bantamweight top contender Stephen Loman, Sangiao’s namesake Jhanlo and Jeremy Pacatiw lead this batch dominated by taekwondo players.
The Korean martial arts players include Kristauf Bosaing, Kody Wanson, Manilyn Mataag, Elcanor Mang-usan, Viggo Dangiwan, Brylle Cafgongtan, Jasiel and Janice Candido, Jamie Requillo, Josh Daniel and Liam David Tacio, Alice Rhema Mana-a, Bona Stella Rivera, Ioness Panganiban, Khyla Kreanzzel Guinto, Shaun Devyn Masaway, Wayne and Xian Craig Eusebio and Xedric James Faroden.
The jiu-jitsu players are Arvin Jose, George Abalos III, Chad and Jan Rensen Mayos.
