SANS ANY intention of bragging, we must say that UST leading the UAAP general championship race has become predictable. UST lords over the field at the end of the first semester and consolidates the race when the second semester sports kick off.
Season 71, though just half-finished, is no different. After the first semester sports, UST piled a commanding 167 points – with five championships consisting of the men’s titles in beach volleyball, taekwondo, table tennis, and swimming, and the women’s title in taekwondo. Thus, UST leads the pack.
But it was no walk in the park as Far Eastern University (FEU) got off to a jack-rabbit start, topping women’s basketball, beach volleyball and table tennis, and men’s chess. It even gained no lower than the top three spots in all the events it joined.
After the UAAP table tennis games, FEU established an eight-point distance from UST, but that proved to be its last taste of the lead, as the school had no representatives in judo and swimming where UST snatched the men’s title.
Bias aside, FEU deserves some recognition. Despite foregoing judo and swimming, the Morayta-based school still managed to take in the second spot and could have easily maintained its early hold of the lead had it joined all events.
Other universities that have fielded athletes in all events remain in the running, such as De la Salle University and the University of the Philippines.
The test does not end when the basketball hostilities cease and the cheerleading battle ends. The top prize is the overall championship, no matter the rather awry perception that the men’s varsity basketball is the UAAP.
After all, the UAAP is a tournament of educational institutions, and the general championship proves that its holder has a holistic sports program.
Because it never fails to focus on the larger picture and put things in the proper perspective, UST has emerged historically as the school with the most overall championships—35 and still counting. No school is even close to achieving that record.
All of UST’s other achievements—such as the UST Growling Tigers’ glorious “four-peat” in 1993 to 1996 and their tumultuous Cinderella run two years ago—are merely icing on the cake.
And while we’re at it, let’s hear it for the girls: The Lady Jins won the 2008 title last September. Prior to their loss against FEU last year, the Tiger Jins had dominated the taekwondo mats for five years, from 2002 to 2006.
In table tennis, the Tiger Paddlers recorded an unmatched seven-year dynasty in 1990 to 1997 while the Lady Paddlers established a five-year title-run from 1989 to 1993.
Before their Season 71 defeats, the Lady Woodpushers and the Female Tigersharks ruled their respective spheres for three years and four years, respectively. The Male Judokas, on one hand, flaunted a seven-year charge in 1997 to 2003. These are just some of UST’s many title runs in recent memory.
These are immortal feats that prove UST’s supremacy in sports. This Season 71, the intimidating performance of FEU amid its incomplete participation in UAAP has raised doubts about UST’s dominance in the general championship race.
But that challenge merely adds spice to a game whose outcome has been long determined: when the dust has cleared by season’s end early next year, UST will have won its 36th overall crown.
