UST Junior Tiger Trackster Ivan Cabanda set a new Palarong Pambansa record en route to winning the gold medal in the 400-meter hurdles event on Wednesday, May 27, in Agusan del Sur.
Cabanda clocked 51.7 seconds in the final to top the field after previously recording 51.8 seconds in the heats.
The achievement came after the competition updated the hurdles height for the secondary boys’ division to 0.838 meters for this year’s tournament.
“Satisfied naman ako sa pinakita niyang performance,” UST head coach Junrey Bano told the Varsitarian. “Positive ‘yong pinakita niya. Maganda na positive ‘yong pinakita niya sa bagong heights.”
Cabanda, the UAAP Season 87 Rookie of the Year, also captured silver in the 110-meter hurdles after posting a time of 13.55 seconds on Monday.
In November, Cabanda became only the second Filipino to qualify for the 2026 World Juniors Championships after recording a record-breaking 52.99 seconds in the boys’ 400-meter hurdles during the UAAP Season 88 athletics tournament.
Cabanda’s time surpassed the world juniors qualifying standard of 53.00 seconds, securing him a berth in the world meet scheduled for August 2026 in Oregon.
Cabanda is still set to compete in the 4×100 relay and 4×400 relay events in the Palaro on Friday.
