'Fil-Heritage' athletes win the first PH Athletics competition

On March 22, here at Ilagan Sports Complex, the sprinters Angel Frank and Umajesty Williams lead the "Filipino-Heritage" athletes—foreign competitors with Filipino ancestry—in a commanding display of speed and skill on the opening day of the Philippine Athletics Championships.

Frank and Williams demonstrated they have what it takes to win gold as they set their sights on earning spots on the national team to compete in the 32nd Southeast Asian Games in Cambodia this May.

The national meet featured impressive performances from Frank, Williams, Cabang, Hoffman, Manibog, and Manibog, with Frank taking first place in the women's 400m and Williams taking first place in the men's 400m. In the men's 110-meter hurdles, Cabang—a Filipino of Spanish descent—stunned SEA Games record-holder Clinton Bautista with a time of 14.35 seconds.

Hoffman came in second in the 400-meter sprint, while Manibog finished second in the women's 100-meter hurdles. Frank, a student from Charleston, South Carolina, talked about how the field's level of competition surprised her.