HOKETT Delos Santos and Janry Ubas lead the competitors in the National Pole Vault Competition (NPVC) on Saturday, a prelude to the Atletang Ayala World Pole Vault Challenge being initiated by EJ Obiena.
Delos Santos and Ubas will get the first taste of street vaulting competition to be held at the Ayala Triangle in Makati which will serve as an undercard to Sunday’s international pole vault event where Obiena will see action against a world-rated field.
READ World No. 5 Ersu Sasma headlines entries in EJ Obiena pole vault event
The NPVC will start at 1:30 p.m.
Delos Santos, the reigning UAAP pole vault champion out of University of Santo Tomas, won the silver medal behind Obiena during the 2021 Southeast Asian Games in Hanoi, while Ubas is known as a versatile trackster - a heptathlon bronze medal in the 2023 Asian Indoor Championship and long jump gold in the 2023 SEA Games among his accomplishments.
Also seeing action are 2023 Palarong Pambansa pole vault champion Sean Harry Narag and 2024 Philippine National Games and UAAP Season 87 silver medalist Mejen Sumbongan.
Delos Santos, Narag, and Sumbongan are being mentored by Obiena’s father Emerson.
UAAP junior record holder John Philip Villar and Fil-American Enzo Sison complete the cast in the men’s division.
In the women’s side, 2024 World Masters Athletics Championships silver medalist Riezel Buenaventura, and Cambodia SEA Games bronze medalist Alyana Nicolas will also be competing.
Also in the field are UAAP and Philippine Athletics Championships medalists Jia Kawachi, Jessa Marie Libres, Khrizzie Ruzol, and Isabella Louie Sta. Maria, and 2025 Philippine Athletics Championships silver medalist Amy Christensen.
Meanwhile, a public meet-and-greet with the international pole vaulters is scheduled on Saturday, 10 a.m. at the One Ayala Concourse.
Aside from Obiena, the international competitors are world No. 5 Ersu Sasma of Turkey, No. 6 and European indoor champion Menno Vloon of Netherlands, Thibaut Collet of France, Ben Broeders of Belgium, Austin Miller of the U.S., Piotr Lisek of Poland, Oleg Zernikel of Germany, and Matt Ludwig of the U.S.
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