WORLD No. 5 pole vaulter EJ Obiena sought to rally fellow UST athletes in preparation for the new UAAP season where the University is eyeing a 45th general championship.
“We do it for the country, for the sport, and we do it for UST,” he said in a message during UST’s virtual kickoff rally on Saturday.
“It’s time to bring back that crown to España. Go, USTe!”
As narrated by UST Tracksters head coach Manny Calipes in July 2021, Obiena cleared the five-meter bar during one of his training sessions in UST but was, however, unofficial.
The Thomasian became the first Filipino athlete to qualify for the Olympics in 2019 after clearing 5.81 meters.
Obiena is currently the Asian record holder in pole vault after clearing 5.92 meters in September 2021, a record that would eclipse Kazakhstan’s Igor Potapovich’s 23-year-old record.
UST claimed its 44th UAAP general championship in Season 82, the season cut short by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Winning the general championship in Season 84 would give UST its third general championship five-peat in the final four era.
UST won straight UAAP general championships in seasons 58 to 62 and 69 to 75. The University is heading into Season 84 with four straight general championships.
During the kick-off party, UST Fr. Rector, Richard Ang, O.P. reminded Thomasian athletes to remain grounded.
“I hope you always bear in mind that you are Thomasians…Be humble in times of victory and be dignified in times of defeat,” Ang said.
UST athletics director Fr. Rodel Cansancio, O.P. also nudged the athletes to stay humble because “there is no boastful Thomasian.”
UAAP Season 84 will start on March 26 with the men’s basketball event. M.E.V. Villeza
