Rojo leads top PH Ironman finishers

LAPU-LAPU CITY—Nicole Rojo emerged as the top finisher among Filipino women in the IRONMAN 70.3 Lapu-Lapu, while Irienold Reig Jr. continued his strong run with another age-group victory in Cebu on Sunday.

Rojo, who built her credentials with victories in smaller endurance races, delivered a breakthrough on a bigger stage with a time of 5 hours, 15 minutes and 27 seconds.

The South Cotabato triathlete posted splits of 19:16 in the swim, 2:59:38 on the bike and 1:49:37 in the run to rule the women’s 18-24 division in the 12th staging of the endurance race presented by Megaworld and organized by Sunrise Events Inc.

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Rojo finished well ahead of Melona Yucot (6:06:54) and Rachel Wong (7:38:52).

Reig reinforced his status as one of the country’s promising young triathletes by topping the men’s 18-24 division in 4:23:03, following up his victory in the IRONMAN 70.3 Davao.

The Quezon City standout recorded splits of 18:24, 2:26:00 and 1:32:49 to beat Dutchman Rik Beugel (4:34:28) and fellow Filipino Eryk Omandam (4:45:41).

Jewin Ochea added another local victory, capturing the Philippine Sports Commission-backed Elite Category in 4:26:10. The division featured national pool members and other high-performing local athletes competing separately from the standard age-group field.

More than 1,400 triathletes from 48 countries competed, with South Africa’s Henri Schoeman and Australia’s Natalie Van Coevorden winning the professional men’s and women’s titles, respectively. Schoeman claimed his second crown in the event, while Van Coevorden won for the first time.