Kareel Hongitan - 1st Igorota to win 4 Gold Medals in 6th Southeast Asian Open Championship

Photo Courtesy || United Montanyosa

Cordillera - A young Igorota archer bagged four gold medals during the 6th Southeast Asian Open Archery Championship held in Yangon, Myanmar in 2017. 

Kareel Meer Hongitan who traces her roots to Natonin, Mountain provinces was the top 1 in the women's Olympic taking the gold medal while fellow Filipina archers Mary Queen Ybanez and Nicole Marie Tagle took the silver and bronze respectively.

19-year old Kareel was a Bachelor of Science in Tourism Management graduate from the University of Baguio. 

She led the Philippine team to victory by bagging home six gold, four silver and two bronze medals during the event which was participated by over 100 archers from ASEAN countries including Hong Kong.

The city government of Baguio has issued a resolution commending Kareel and his father John, a long time coach.

Authored by Councilor Allad-iw, the resolution lauded Kareel for taking home four out of the six gold medals won by team Philippines. 

"Their feat brought pride and honor to their families and the Philippines and the City of Baguio, which have been placed in the glare of publicity once again," Allad-iw said.

Councilor Allad-iw added that Kareel's impressive win as a solo marksman has catapulted her status in the World Women's Recurve Ranking to 107th place. 

This status has allowed her to compete in the other international competitions such as the World Cups in China, Turkey, and the United States and in SEA Games Malaysia.