By CALVIN CORDOVA

CEBU CITY—The track oval of the Cebu City Sports Center (CCSC) has been confirmed to be substandard.

Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) Commissioner Edward Hayco disclosed that the measurement validation conducted by Mendel Surveying Solutions Co. on Sunday, July 14, showed that the oval is short by 1.5 meters after being measured 398.5 meters instead of the standard 400.

Hayco said that per Jeanette Obiena, technical consultant of the Palarong Pambansa, the first surveyor concluded that the oval conformed to specifications.

But the revalidation of the second surveyor showed that the radius of the white lines were short by 30 centimeters.

Being short by 30 centimeters means that the lines drawn were short by 1.5 meters.

The PSC tapped a third party to revalidate the oval’s measurement after it was announced that it only measured 398 meters.

Because of the oval being substandard, new Palaro records will not be recognized.

Trackster Mico Villaran of Western Visayas had set a new record in the 110-meter hurdles but the feat is in danger of being nullified due to the substandard oval.

Meanwhile, the National Capital Region (NCR) has pulled away from the rest of the field with only a few games left in the final day of competition on Monday, July 15.

As of 3 p.m. on Monday, the Big City was comfortably on top of the medal rankings with 70 golds, 55 silvers, and 62 bronzes.

Region 4-A was in second place with 50 golds, 32 silvers, and 44 bronzes while Region 6 ranked third with a 46-30-32 tally.

Region 11 took the fourth spot with 27 golds, 24 silvers, and 27 bronzes. Host region Central Visayas landed at fifth place with 25 golds, 37 silvers, and 31 bronzes.

A skirmish marred the championship match of the secondary boys basketball that saw NCR tripped Central Luzon, 86-71.

Punches were thrown at the 7:13 mark of the second quarter that led to the ejections of four players, three from Central Luzon and one from NCR.

Timothy Matias led NCR’s win with 19 points and copped the Most Valuable Player award.

“It feels good to win the gold. I have said that we will not allow that we will be going home without the gold,” said Matias, a Grade 9 student of the National University and son of former PBA player Ronnie Matias.

NCR also got a huge lift from Elaiza Andriel Yulo who stamped her class by snatching three gold medals in the artistic gymnastics of the 2024 Palarong Pambansa at the Cebu Institute of Technology-University gym on Sunday.

The sister of Paris Olympics-bound Carlos Yulo and Karl Jahrel Eldrew Yulo, also a top gymnast, ruled the Uneven Bars  event with a score 0f 9.850.

Elaiza also ruled the Balance Beam event with 12.050. She completed a golden treble by dominating the Floor Exercise competition with 10.900. Elaiza’s teammate Cielo Esliza actually also logged the same score to win the gold in an event that ended in double gold.

Tallula Adrienne Rose Nadres of Central Luzon snatched the bronze with 9.850.

Nadres denied Elaiza a fourth gold after she ruled the Vault Event with 11.775.  Elaiza settled for silver with 11.650.