Tag: No. 5

HALFWAY through the season, UST is clinging on a two-point lead over De La Salle University for the UAAP general championship.

UST has a total of 155 points in large part because of championships men’s taekwondo, women’s judo and poomsae.

But UST sports officials are not celebrating early, knowing a lot can still happen in the second semester.

UST took home silver medals in men’s basketball, men’s judo, men’s table tennis, men’s beach volleyball and women’s taekwondo, and grabbed bronze in women’s table tennis.

The Tiger Jins and the Female Judokas muscled their way into two consecutive championships while the UST poomsae squad redeemed themselves from last year’s third-place finishing on top podium this season.

UNFORTUNATELY, the third time still was not the charm.

The Tigers, for the third time in the last four years, ended another season with a heartbreak, losing to the FEU Tamaraws in three games for the UAAP basketball championship.

In the winner-take-all game, UST stormed back from an 11-point deficit in the third quarter as Ed Daquioag took over and gave the Tigers a six-point lead, 59-53, with over three minutes left in the game.

But FEU’s Roger Pogoy had other plans. He scored seven straight points to secure the Tamaraws’ 20th basketball title and their first since 2005.

WITH THE fast-paced tide of information flowing from different media platforms, quality in journalism should not be overlooked.

This was the central theme of the 17th Inkblots held last Dec. 1 to 3, highlighting a series of lectures from the country’s top journalists.

Award-winning broadcast journalist and ABS-CBN news anchor, Karen Davila described journalism as a “calling,” which should be practiced with responsibly reporting stories to the public.

“In the past, you only get information unilaterally, through only one direct source, but social media has changed that; it is a portal of limitless information,” Davila said in her keynote address, speaking before the 263 campus journalists gathered at the Thomas Aquinas Research Center auditorium.

YOU CAN probably associate the word “paskuhan” only with one university—UST.

But UST’s Paskuhan, highlighted by a beautifully lit Christmas tree, captivating lights and enchanting music, does not only symbolize the Thomasians’ way of celebrating Christmas.

The colorful Paskuhan also mirror parts of history of the University and how Thomasians value charity, solidarity and spirituality.

Ever since it was organized, Paskuhan is not only a year-ender event for the Thomasians but also as a showcase of empathy during tragedy, celebrations, or simply as a countdown for a highly anticipated event for the following year.

AT THE end of the first half of UAAP Season 77, the UST Tigers are poised to reclaim the overall championship from defending champion De La Salle University.

The Tigers garnered a total of 152 points, highlighted by championships from men and women’s judo, men’s taekwondo and women’s beach volleyball.

UST also bagged a silver medal in the men’s beach volleyball and placed third in men’s swimming, women’s table tennis and taekwondo, and poomsae which gave a slim five-point breathing room for the Tigers over La Salle.

SEVERAL alumni and a Thomasian athlete will represent the country as part of the national volleyball team that will compete in the 2015 South East Asian (SEA) Games in Singapore on June 5 to 16.

The Philippine Volleyball Federation recently announced its final 18-man and 18-woman lineups where eight Thomasian athletes were included in both squads, namely Mark Gil Alfafara, Henry Pecaña, Jayson Ramos, John Paul Torres, Rhea Dimaculangan, Maika Ortiz, Aiza Maizo-Pontillas, and Mary Jean Balse.

For the past few years, UST has produced a number of players donning the national colors in previous SEA Games. Among them were Angeli Tabaquero and Venus Bernal, who were part of the 2013 women’s national pool.

DUE TO the change in the University’s academic calendar and priority given to the studies of its athletes, UST missed the annual University Games (UniGames) held at the University of San Agustin in Iloilo last Oct. 20 to 28.

The Institute of Physical Education and Athletics (IPEA) decided not to send a delegation in the annual tournament, which serves as a preseason for second semester sports, since UST athletes were still attending classes.

FROM a player to a UST coach to a national coach, Odjie Mamon hopes to stay true to the winning tradition of Thomasian volleyball.

The newly-minted coach of Philippine Cobra, the country’s men’s volleyball team, has been with UST since his high school days and has been a fixture at the UAAP where he won three championships as a Tiger Spiker from 1988 to 1993.

The former middle blocker recalled how the UAAP has changed since his stint as a player to now where he is the head coach for both the Golden Tigresses and the Tiger Spikers.

UAAP competition has become tougher, but UST is still not keen on seeking more private benefactors to lure better athletes.

Fr. Ermito de Sagon, O.P., director of the Institute of Physical Education and Athletics (IPEA), insisted that the University would not spend big amounts of money for sports just because it’s a “well-known school,” saying the practice was unethical.

“We maintain that our athletes are amateurs. If they want to play in UST, we welcome them but those who think they need to get something out of their skill and are being offered [something] somewhere else, they may go,” he told the Varsitarian.

PROMISING an improved lineup, the UST Tracksters are aiming for nothing less than a gold-medal finish, hoping to end the Far Eastern University’s decade-long dominance of the UAAP athletics tournament.

“Positive ako na mas malaki ang chance ngayon na mag-champion ang women’s team, pero sa men’s team, sana lang ma-retain pa rin ang second [place],” coach Emmanuel Calipes said.

The women’s team getting a boost in the middle and long distance run, Calipes is confident that the Female Tracksters can finally reclaim the crown after 12 years.

“Ninety percent sure [ako] na makukuha namin ang championship this year. I-aassure ko na magiging maganda ang performance ng team pag dating ng competition,” he told the Varsitarian.