JIMUEL Patilan finally hit pay dirt after emerging as one of the winners in the 2012 Century Tuna 1st Leg National Age Group Triathlon Series at Dungaree Beach in Subic Bay Freeport Sunday.

A native of Olongapo City and product of the Triathlon Association of the Philippines (TRAP) youth development program under coach Melvin Fausto, the 14-year-old Patilan easily hurdled the challenge of Mark Pile and Jose Nobles with solid performance in the 350m swim, 16k bike and 2.5k run mini-sprint race to record only his first win in five events he has competed since breaking in this endurance sport last year.

“I’ve been a consistent second place finisher to Allen Santiago in my past events that included the Batang Pinoy National Finals. I’ve glad to finally have won a race and this will keep my drive to become a national team player going,” said Patilan who negotiated the distance in 42 minutes and 06 seconds.

A newcomer to the national pool, Santiago has moved up to the 750m swim, 20k bike and 5k run sprint race, and opened his campaign with a bang by bagging the gold in the male 16-to-19 age group against the more seasoned Marc Alexander Altura with a 1:09:14 clocking.

Fast rising Magali Bernasconi Echauz ruled the female 13-15 mini-sprint with a time of 48:15 to also maintain her lofty position as a potential member to the national pool.

A total of 248 triathletes saw action in the opening leg of the six-series NAGT event organized by TRAP and now presented by Century Tuna, in cooperation with the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA), with competitions also held in the sprint and standard distance as well as in the SuperTriKids aquathlon.

“I’m happy that the NAGT is again off the ground since this is an important part in our year-long program. We are committed to continue holding the series with our supporters, while financial assistance given to us by the Philippine Sports Commission will be channeled to our national athletes with a number of them products of the NAGT,” said TRAP president Tom Carrasco Jr.

CamSur triathlete Franklin Penaloza and British expat Carly Relf, meanwhile won line honors in the standard distance race in the event also supported by Gatorade, Philippine Sports Commission, Arena, Standard Insurance and Asian Centre for Insulation Philippines Inc.

Penaloza negotiated the 1.5m swim, 40k bike and 10k run in 2:19:17 to bag top honors in the male 35-to-39 division, while Relf banked on her strength in the swim and bike for a time of 2:42:34 and the gold in the female 35-to-39 category.