BY ALDRIN QUINTO

PUERTO PRINCESA. — A 13-year-old daughter of two former national athletes who feels it is her time to shine made the most out of her high school debut on Tuesday despite enduring her monthly period.

Maika De Oro, competing for the first time for Western Visayas in the secondary level of the Palarong Pambansa here, set a new games mark in the discus throw with a 32.62-meter heave at the Ramon Mitra Jr. Sports Complex here and then broke down in tears at the sidelines, the significance of her victory not lost on her.

Enduring her monthly period, De Oro registered the new mark on just her second attempt to underline her status as one of the emerging stars in the sport while eclipsing the previous best of 32.45-m set in 2000 by Central Visayas bet Nina Marie Lumapaz.

She threw the plate way ahead of Ira Marie Hernandez of Calabarzon who bagged the silver medal with a throw of 30.31-m. Central Luzon’s Geneva Calma clinched the bronze with a throw of 29.63-m.

"Gusto ko talagang sumunod sa yapak ng parents ko," said De Oro, who also holds the grade school record in the same event.

"Sana rin makapasok ako sa RP team," added De Oro, who jacked Western Visayas’ haul to five gold medals and the provisional overall lead at press time.

It was a performance her coach Emmanuel Pacardo expected, since she is the daughter of Manuel, a former national pole vaulter and now Negros Occidental provincial sports director. He mother, Maria, was a sprinter before the emergence of former Asian star Lydia de Vega. Her only brother Mayven, now 21, was also a former Palarong Pambansa champion.

"Mayroon kasing atleta na pag ganyan ang kundisyon (monthly period), iba ang galaw. Pero mayroong hindi nagbabago ang kundisyon, pareho ni Maika," said Pacardo.

"Nung umaga, before the event, nakita ko okay siya. Hindi rin ako nagtaka sa performance niya," he added.

Western Visayas’ Ivan Jey Sucaldo had earlier topped the high school boys’ triple jump with a leap of 14.20-m while Ramjay Carado of Davao settled for the silver with his 13.80-m performance. Calabarzon’s Noriel Monis placed third with a jump of 13.53-m.

Irin Balura of Central Visayas reigned supreme in the girls’ side, leaping to a distance of 11.78-m to take the gold. Jemalyn Molde of Davao and NCR’s Avegail Marie Dizon took second and third with jumps of 11.57-m and 11.10-m, respectively.

Western Visayas got another big win, thanks to Elena Camiring, who ruled the girls’ shot put competition in the grade school division with a 9.61-m heave, beating NCR’s Shaira Francisco and Western Visayas’ Devy Isada, who both came up with 8.99-m efforts.

"Nakakatuwa po, kasi first time ko lang lumaban dito," said the petite Camiring.

Throwing only 9.1-m in training, Camiring seemed to get a rush of adrenaline that boosted her performance although she admitted she was wary of the hot temperature, although clouds provided some shade over the newly-refurbished sports center to the delight of athletes seeing action early in the afternoon.

"Mas mainit ngayon kaysa nung practice, pero maganda naman ‘yung performance. Sana po maka-tatlo," added Camiring, who is also gearing up for the discus and javelin events.

Last year’s overall National Capital Region started hot in grade school gymnastics with 12-year-old Rizza Corpuz winning the individual all-around event with 50.35 points and Ariette Nichole Orella gaining 49.00 points to make it a 1-2 podium finish. Ilocos’s Katherine Mae Cipriano took the last podium spot with 46.30 points.