CEBU CITY — Region 4A (Calabarzon) grabbed the early lead in the gold medal race here at the 2024 Palarong Pambansa.

As of 5:30 p.m. on Friday, the Southern Tagalog Region, which placed third overall last year, harvested a total of 27 gold medals on top of nine silvers and 11 bronzes.

Defending champion National Capital Region is in close second place with a 19-12-19 gold-silver-bronze medal haul while host region Region 7 (Central Visayas) is third with a 13-21-6 tally.

Gymnast Mark Jacob Villamar of Joze Memorial School in Calamba City led the charge for Calabarzon with a personal collection of four gold medals.

Villamar topped the elementary boys individual all-around, horizontal bar, pommel horse and floor exercise.

Jasmine Mojdeh, one of the favorites to dominate the swimming competitions, is also helping Calabarzon's cause with two gold medals so far.

She ruled the two events in record breaking fashions.

The Brent International School (Biñan) ace swimmer reset her personal and meet record in the girls secondary 200m butterfly with a time of 2:19.72 on Thursday and established another one in the 200m breaststroke with a 2:41.75 performance on Friday.

National Capital Region's Eliza Andriel Yulo, sister of Carlos and Karl Eldrew, dazzles the crowd with her performance in the qualifying round of the girls' artistic gymnastics all-around during the 64th Palarong Pambansa at Cebu Institute of Technology University on July 12, 2024. Meanwhile, at the Cebu City Sports Center, swimmer Peter Cyrus Dean of Calabarzon wins and breaks the record in the 200-meter individual medley. Another swimmer, Micaela Jasmine Mojdeh of Calabarzon breaks her own 5-year-old record in the 200-meter breaststroke, clocking 2:41.75, PHOTO BY RIO DELUVIO National Capital Region's Eliza Andriel Yulo, sister of Carlos and Karl Eldrew, dazzles the crowd with her performance in the qualifying round of the girls' artistic gymnastics all-around during the 64th Palarong Pambansa at Cebu Institute of Technology University on July 12, 2024. Meanwhile, at the Cebu City Sports Center, swimmer Peter Cyrus Dean of Calabarzon wins and breaks the record in the 200-meter individual medley. Another swimmer, Micaela Jasmine Mojdeh of Calabarzon breaks her own 5-year-old record in the 200-meter breaststroke, clocking 2:41.75, PHOTO BY RIO DELUVIO National Capital Region's Eliza Andriel Yulo, sister of Carlos and Karl Eldrew, dazzles the crowd with her performance in the qualifying round of the girls' artistic gymnastics all-around during the 64th Palarong Pambansa at Cebu Institute of Technology University on July 12, 2024. Meanwhile, at the Cebu City Sports Center, swimmer Peter Cyrus Dean of Calabarzon wins and breaks the record in the 200-meter individual medley. Another swimmer, Micaela Jasmine Mojdeh of Calabarzon breaks her own 5-year-old record in the 200-meter breaststroke, clocking 2:41.75, PHOTO BY RIO DELUVIO National Capital Region's Eliza Andriel Yulo, sister of Carlos and Karl Eldrew, dazzles the crowd with her performance in the qualifying round of the girls' artistic gymnastics all-around during the 64th Palarong Pambansa at Cebu Institute of Technology University on July 12, 2024. Meanwhile, at the Cebu City Sports Center, swimmer Peter Cyrus Dean of Calabarzon wins and breaks the record in the 200-meter individual medley. Another swimmer, Micaela Jasmine Mojdeh of Calabarzon breaks her own 5-year-old record in the 200-meter breaststroke, clocking 2:41.75, PHOTO BY RIO DELUVIO National Capital Region's Eliza Andriel Yulo, sister of Carlos and Karl Eldrew, dazzles the crowd with her performance in the qualifying round of the girls' artistic gymnastics all-around during the 64th Palarong Pambansa at Cebu Institute of Technology University on July 12, 2024. Meanwhile, at the Cebu City Sports Center, swimmer Peter Cyrus Dean of Calabarzon wins and breaks the record in the 200-meter individual medley. Another swimmer, Micaela Jasmine Mojdeh of Calabarzon breaks her own 5-year-old record in the 200-meter breaststroke, clocking 2:41.75, PHOTO BY RIO DELUVIO National Capital Region's Eliza Andriel Yulo, sister of Carlos and Karl Eldrew, dazzles the crowd with her performance in the qualifying round of the girls' artistic gymnastics all-around during the 64th Palarong Pambansa at Cebu Institute of Technology University on July 12, 2024. Meanwhile, at the Cebu City Sports Center, swimmer Peter Cyrus Dean of Calabarzon wins and breaks the record in the 200-meter individual medley. Another swimmer, Micaela Jasmine Mojdeh of Calabarzon breaks her own 5-year-old record in the 200-meter breaststroke, clocking 2:41.75, PHOTO BY RIO DELUVIO National Capital Region's Eliza Andriel Yulo, sister of Carlos and Karl Eldrew, dazzles the crowd with her performance in the qualifying round of the girls' artistic gymnastics all-around during the 64th Palarong Pambansa at Cebu Institute of Technology University on July 12, 2024. Meanwhile, at the Cebu City Sports Center, swimmer Peter Cyrus Dean of Calabarzon wins and breaks the record in the 200-meter individual medley. Another swimmer, Micaela Jasmine Mojdeh of Calabarzon breaks her own 5-year-old record in the 200-meter breaststroke, clocking 2:41.75, PHOTO BY RIO DELUVIO National Capital Region's Eliza Andriel Yulo, sister of Carlos and Karl Eldrew, dazzles the crowd with her performance in the qualifying round of the girls' artistic gymnastics all-around during the 64th Palarong Pambansa at Cebu Institute of Technology University on July 12, 2024. Meanwhile, at the Cebu City Sports Center, swimmer Peter Cyrus Dean of Calabarzon wins and breaks the record in the 200-meter individual medley. Another swimmer, Micaela Jasmine Mojdeh of Calabarzon breaks her own 5-year-old record in the 200-meter breaststroke, clocking 2:41.75, PHOTO BY RIO DELUVIO National Capital Region's Eliza Andriel Yulo, sister of Carlos and Karl Eldrew, dazzles the crowd with her performance in the qualifying round of the girls' artistic gymnastics all-around during the 64th Palarong Pambansa at Cebu Institute of Technology University on July 12, 2024. Meanwhile, at the Cebu City Sports Center, swimmer Peter Cyrus Dean of Calabarzon wins and breaks the record in the 200-meter individual medley. Another swimmer, Micaela Jasmine Mojdeh of Calabarzon breaks her own 5-year-old record in the 200-meter breaststroke, clocking 2:41.75, PHOTO BY RIO DELUVIO National Capital Region's Eliza Andriel Yulo, sister of Carlos and Karl Eldrew, dazzles the crowd with her performance in the qualifying round of the girls' artistic gymnastics all-around during the 64th Palarong Pambansa at Cebu Institute of Technology University on July 12, 2024. Meanwhile, at the Cebu City Sports Center, swimmer Peter Cyrus Dean of Calabarzon wins and breaks the record in the 200-meter individual medley. Another swimmer, Micaela Jasmine Mojdeh of Calabarzon breaks her own 5-year-old record in the 200-meter breaststroke, clocking 2:41.75, PHOTO BY RIO DELUVIO

In athletics, Charles Daniel Turla of Western Visayas set a new Palarong Pambansa elementary boys javelin throw record at the Cebu City Sports Center on Friday.

Athletics has been the strong suit of Western Visayas so far with eight of their 11 gold medals coming from the medal-rich sport.

Region 7 dominated the athletics competitions last year in Marikina City with 24 golds.

The Palaro first-timer's throw covered a distance of 60.26 meters to claim the gold medal to erase the previous record of 57.50m posted by Jerick Mendoza of Calabarzon in 2016 in Legazpi City.

Meanwhile, the Region 9 (Zamboanga Peninsula) pair of Kyle Nathan Fabian and Lediviere Joy Hebron captured six gold medals and became the first-ever gold medal winners in dancesport at the Palarong Pambansa.

The pair from Montessori De Zamboanga dominated the Waltz, Tango, Viennese Waltz, Foxtrot, Quickstep and the 5-Dance categories in the elementary level.

"It's our first time at the Palaro, and winning gold is an incredible feeling," Fabian said.

This year marks the debut of dancesport as a regular medal event in the Palarong Pambansa, making it one of the most anticipated competitions at the annual multisport event.

Host Cebu City, meanwhile, boasts to be the dancesport capital in the world.

In 2009, the city achieved the Guinness World Record for the biggest dance with 7,770 participants at the Cebu City Sports Complex.

Further solidifying Central Visayas status as the best in the sport, the pair of Francis Dave Sombal and Mitchloni Dinauanao made a six-gold sweep in the Junior Latin America Category.

WITH REPORTS FROM KAISER JAN FUENTES

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