DESPITE playing second-fiddle to the Far Eastern University (FEU) for the second year, UST still won its share of glory, setting new records in three UAAP track and field events.
A record broken by UST included a 68-year-old record in 1938, when the UAAP started, set by Thomasian athletic great Niño Ramirez.
UST tallied a 12-14-8 gold-silver-bronze medal output last Dec. 14-17 at the Rizal Memorial Oval in Manila, while FEU bagged the title with a 23-14-17 medal tally. University of the East (UE) finished third with four golds, three silvers and six bronzes. “We still had a great finish although we did not win the title because FEU sported a younger lineup compared to us,” UST Athletics coach Manny Calipes told the Varsitarian. “Moreover, they (FEU) had more competitors in the contest so they had more chances of winning.”
But UST Male Tracksters team captain Benigno Marayag, who bagged three golds for UST, posted a UAAP milestone after leaping a distance of 7.17 meters in the long jump. Marayag shattered the 68-year-old record of Thomasian track and field legend Niño Ramirez of 7.07 meters set in 1938, the very first UAAP season. “All my hard work and training paid off,” Marayag said. Marayag also won the titles in the high jump and triple jump, leaping a height of 1.85 meters and a distance of 15.04 meters.
UST’s Junrey Bano also set the tracks on fire with three gold medals. Bano logged in at 54.05 seconds to take the 400-meter low hurdles crown. His teammate, Glenn Arcangel, came in second with 54.61 seconds.
Bano earlier set a new record for the 400-meter low hurdles during the quarterfinals, clocking in at 53.52 seconds to edge out the previous record of 53.98 seconds by UE’s Domingo Manata. He also reigned in the 400-m dash event (49.01 seconds). Thereafter, Bano joined teammates Teodoro dela Peña, Marco Gacute, and Arcangel to win the 4×400 meter relay in three minutes and 19.84 seconds. UST was trailing after two runs, but Arcangel pushed the tempo in the third run to catch up on FEU’s Orlando Soriano. Bano then went on to break away from Nelbert Ducusin in the final run.
Ben Alejandrino and teammate Jhonny España also became UST’s 1-2 punch in the 10,000-meter run as they won the gold and silver medals, respectively. Another UST gold-medalist was Edwin Bryan Sediego, who topped the pole-vault event at four meters.
On the distaff side, the Lady Tracksters again played bridesmaids to FEU, registering a 4-9-5 gold-silver-bronze medal tally. Season 68 Rookie of the Year Bernardita Mag-Aso claimed her lone gold medal in the 800-meter event in two minutes and 14.21 seconds, shattering the eight-year record of two minutes and 14.68 seconds set by UE’s Anna Leah Hugo. Charmei Cabale, Meriam Colangoy, Belinda Jimenez, and Honey Maestre also joined the medal rush by winning the 4×100 meter relay title at 50.47 seconds, a fifth of a second faster than runner-up Ateneo de Manila University.
Unigames 2006 first-placer Jennifer Angeles also won gold in high jump with 1.55 meters, while fellow Thomasian Abigail Panopio and Jicamil Pader finished first and second in shot put by throwing a distance of 10.58 meters and 10.17 meters, respectively.
