ELEMENTARY and secondary schools who topped last year's Milo Little Olympic's (MLO) North and Central Luzon leg remained the favorite to retain the overall crown anew.
"We have high expectations for the schools that won the overall gold medal last year, particularly Baguio City High School for the secondary and Camp 7 Elementary School for the elementary division," said MLO sports director Maria Teresa Bernardino.
Last year, three Baguio primary schools finished in the top three edging other schools from across northern Luzon.
Camp 7 Elementary School topped the elementary division with 52 points excelling in the girl’s athletics edging Mabini Elementary School’s 50.67 points after excelling in the boy’s athletics while Elpidio Quirino Elementary School was in third place with 43 points.
In the secondary division, Baguio City High School notched a rare three-peat dominating the secondary division with 171 points topping the athletics, badminton, football and the girl’s chess events.
Olongapo National High School came in second with 76.5 points, while Holy Angel University in Angeles City, Pampanga retained its third place with 65 points.
"Let's hope for them to keep their championship record," Bernardino added.
Over 5,000 athletes have registered for the event that will run until September 4.
Bernardino said of the registered participants, only 10 percent are from the Cordillera region.
Expected to give a tough challenge to Baguio schools include entries from
Pampanga, La Union, Pangasinan, Ilocos Sur, and Norte.
"But we have new events, arnis and karatedo, and we expect Cordillerans to excel with the new games," she said.
Since 1988, the Milo Little Olympics sought to promote the youth's physical and mental well-being as well as develop children with values of discipline, teamwork, self-confidence, leadership, resilience and fair play.
The Milo Little Olympics is conducted annually in Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao and the National Capital Region. (JMP)