THREE times the frustration.
For the third straight year, the UST Male Tracksters played second fiddle to a mighty Far Eastern University squad in the UAAP Track and Field competition last February 7 to10 at the Rizal Memorial.
The España-based tracksters tallied a 2-4-6 gold-silver-bronze medal output good for 152.5 points. Comfortably ahead of them was FEU with 311.5 points while Ateneo De Manila University came in third with 149 points.
“We knew that FEU will come out indomitable again,” coach Manny Calipes told the Varsitarian. “But we didn’t go home empty-handed after snaring three individual awards.”
“We have some promising rookies coming in next year, hopefully we will do better.”
Emmanuel de los Angeles bagged Rookie-of-the-Year honors with one gold and one bronze medal for UST. De los Angeles leaped a height of 1.90 meters to capture his lone gold medal in the high jump event. Team mate Marlon Marasigan finished second, jumping a height of 1.80 meters.
De los Angeles teamed up with Glen Arcangel, John Patricio and Robert Tulino to place third in the 4×100-meter relay with a time of 44.62 seconds.
Arcangel set the tracks on fire in the 400-meter hurdles, capturing UST’s second gold medal with a blistering time of 53.91 seconds.
Edgar Bardel set a time of 51 minutes and 30.82 seconds in the 10,000-meter walk, bagging a silver medal in the process. Another UST silver medalist was Paulo Cacho, who set a time of 19.28 seconds in the 110-meter hurdles.
Ben Alejandrino finished second in the 1,500-meter run with a time of four minutes. Alejandrino went on to finish third in the 800-meter run with a time of one minute and 55.37 seconds. Teodoro de la Peña threw the javelin for 42.58 meters, good enough for bronze. Jhonny España also finished third, setting a time of nine minutes and 39.96 seconds in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Marlon Marasigan rounded out the medal winners, placing third in the triple jump event with a distance of 13.59 meters.
Like their male counterparts, the UST Lady Tracksters finished in bridesmaid position with a 9-5-4 gold-silver-bronze medal haul, good enough for 200.5 points. Champions FEU tallied a commanding 302 points while University of the East finished in third place with 110 points.
Rookie of the Year Luville Dato-on and Most Valuable player Bernadette Mag-aso spearheaded UST’s campaign. Dato-on hauled four golds and a silver medal in her maiden season for the black-gold and white. Dato-on won gold medals in the triple jump and long jump events, registering 11.89 and 5.54 meter jumps respectively. The UST rookie also struck gold in the 100-meter dash, checking in at 12.49 seconds.
Mag-aso finished her Season 70 campaign with three golds and a silver medal. Mag-aso broke UAAP records in the 5,000-meter run (19:14.1), 1,500-meter run (4:39.8), and 800-meter run (2:14.15).
Mag-aso teamed up with Dato-on, Keizel Pedriña and Ma. Dele Paz Banebane to shatter the league record in the 4×400-meter relay, clocking in with a time of three minutes and 57.6 seconds.
Banebane snared two individual gold medals along with her group medal. The UST spitfire came in first, clocking in at one minute and three seconds in the finals of the 400-meter hurdle event. Banebane also came in first in the final of the 400-meter dash, setting a scorching time of 59.17 seconds.
