By: Aishah Jimenez
Photo courtesy of Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association
Gearing up towards the NCAA's centennial season, Matt David Obiena placed third in the Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association (PATAFA) Weekly Relay Series finals campaign, on October 26, at the PhilSports Athletics Stadium in Pasig City.
The PATAFA Weekly Relay Series is a competition program primarily designed to encourage grassroots athletes to participate in athletics. It also serves as an instrument for trainers to discover new talents and eventually hone their skills at the national level.
In a span of 13 weeks, the Colegio’s lone representative, Obiena, managed to rack up impressive finishes in his weekly pole vaulting event in the men’s senior division, breaking his 3.90 meters personal best record by clearing 4.15 meters just in the third week of the program.
True to the saying that progress is not always linear, Obiena, from halfway through September and up until the present, have been enduring plantar fasciitis as well as an injury in his hamstring, thereby permitting him to only escape 4.00 meters in Week 7, and complete 4.05 meters in the Schedule B - Finals.
Although the 22-year-old athlete admits that closing a 4.00-meter club is already considered the average in a Philippine pole vault competition, adding that competitors who reach the 5.00-meter mark are above average, and a 6.00 is cleared at the world-class level, the former still laments on what could have been, if not for his injury.
“All things considered, ginusto ko talaga na mas mataas ‘yung tinalon ko, ang kaso lang due to the injury, hindi kinaya. So, I just did my best and managed to stay consistent on jumping above 4.00 meters, so hindi siya tsamba,” said Obiena.
The Senior Knight, who actually came from a family of athletes, with his cousin, Olympian Pole Vaulter EJ Obiena, achieving the highest among all, was consoled by his kin.
“Hindi na nakakahiya iyon. Disente na iyon kasi at least nasa 4.00 meters ‘yung nag third at hindi ‘yung below 4.00 meters,” said his uncle and coach, the multiple time medalist at the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games Emerson Obiena.
Nevertheless, he views the victory more as a blessing than a significant milestone in his playing career, explaining that even though he has not won much, attaining a feat could indicate that he is moving in the right direction.
Outlook on EJ Obiena’s soon-to-be-inaugurated pole vault clinic
As the Asia’s Best Pole Vaulter turns his dream into reality by building local infrastructure for pole vaulting at the Marcos Stadium in Laoag City, Ilocos Norte, the younger Obiena supports such a move, pointing out that if track and field as a whole is already a sport that is underappreciated in the country, what more its particular event, which is riskier and more severe without the right equipment and resources.
Narrating the experiences of the national athlete Hokket Delos Santos, who likewise served as one of the motivations for the World’s No.2 pole vaulter to launch such a facility, the Knight revealed that the athletes would not have been able to be discovered if they had not had access to the right resources, implying that the only facility, at least in the Metro, that is open to the public is situated in Pasig.
“It is really important na ma-open din ‘yung facilities around the Philippines kasi we’ll never know, maraming mga athletes na mayroong undiscovered potential. Maybe with proper facilities and coach it would be the start to the right direction to them having fun in pole vault and maybe even being the next set of olympians or national athletes,” said Obiena.
The ribbon-cutting ceremony is anticipated to be held on November 22, formally unveiling the pole vault training facility.