UST IS poised to collect another UAAP general championship on the occasion of its Quadricentennial anniversary.
After the first semester of hostilities, UST athletes are ahead of the pack with 128 points with a 4-2-1 gold-silver-bronze medal haul. Trailing the Tigers by 13 points is De La Salle University, which collected 115 points, and host Ateneo with 107 points.
The total was yet to include the results of the table tennis tournament.
“I’m happy so far because we are leading [the race],” said athletics moderator Rodrigo Sambuang. “But still, we should not be very confident with it because our lead is not that much, and there are still other sports in the next semester.”
Sambuang said UST could have performed better in not for the loss of key players and coaches in a number of disciplines.
Ups and down
The men’s basketball team improved on their seventh-place finish last season by securing the fourth spot. The Tiger Judokas reclaimed the title from La Salle while the Lady Judokas defended theirs. Brian Llamas and Shellane Bello both won the MVP plum for their respective divisions.
Also regaining the crown were the Tiger Jins, who thrashed La Salle in the championship round, 5-2.
The beach volleyball duo of Judy Caballejo and Maruja Banaticla ended UST’s five-year title drought after demolishing Ateneo last month.
Unlike their female counterparts, the Tiger Spikers finished second for the second consecutive year. They surrender to defending champion Far Eastern University.
The Tigresses and the UST swimmers duplicated their respective finishes last season.
The cagebelles placed third once again, while the male swimmers secured the second spot. The women’s team ended their campaign at fourth place.
A blow to UST’s first-semester campaign was the Male Shuttlers’ and Lady Jins’ failure to defend their titles this season.
The Male Shuttlers bowed out of contention in the Final Four and settled for fifth place, their worst finish since 2007. The Lady Jins crashed to fourth place behind Far Eastern University (5-2), University of the Philippines (3-4), and La Salle (3-4).
