NAGA CITY – Heaping superlatives on the UST Female Tigersharks to underscore their Prisaa dominance will not do the trick. Counting the medals around their necks will.
The Female Tigersharks proved that they would take on the best of the best even with three mainstays out of commission, helping the National Capital Region (NCR) retain the over-all title in women’s swimming last April 21 to 24.
UST coach Agot Alcantara, also named the tournament’s best coach, said NCR would have collected more medals if not for the absence of Layann Ramos, Edzen Dinglazan, and Lianne Marquez. The trio skipped the tournament for academic reasons.
Joining hands with San Beda College, which represented the Big City tankers in the men’s division, the Female Tigersharks gifted NCR with 51 golds, 21 silvers and 10 bronzes.
Two-time UAAP Most Valuable Player (MVP) Josephine Pilapil led NCR’s medal splash in the distaff side with 17 golds, nine silvers and six bronzes.
Pilapil struck gold in the 200 meter individual medley (2:49:98), 50-meter breaststroke (38:56), 100-meter breaststroke (1:26:87), 400-meter individual medley, and 200-meter breaststroke.
Veteran Apryl Pearl Herrera ruled the 200-meter (2:31:62) and 50-meter (30:28) freestyle events while settling for a silver and a bronze in the 50-meter fly (32:78) and 50-meter backstroke (35:55), respectively.
Season 70 Rookie of the Year Marvie Borja also contributed to the NCR cause, placing second in the 50-meter freestyle (31:63) on top of a pair of third-place finishes in the 400-meter freestyle (5:33:65) and 100-meter freestyle (1:10:63). Alijoy Pilapil took home the silver in the 800-meter freestyle (11:53:73) and a bronze in the 200-meter backstroke (2:53:24).
The UST rookies who filled the void left by Dinglazan, Marquez, and Ramos also made ripples on the pool.
Alexa Espino snared a gold and a bronze in the 800-meter and 200-meter freestyle events with clockings of 11:40:54 and 2:36:49, respectively. Jorelle Vinluan clinched the bronze in the 50-meter butterfly in 34:33 seconds.
The Female Tigersharks also copped the gold in the 200-meter medley relay (2:21:52) and the 200-meter freestyle relay (2:07:20) to compliment a silver-medal finish in the 400-meter free relay (4:50:29).
