Tag: 2011

THE UST Golden Sox barged into the Final Four with a perfect record, claiming their eight straight win after defeating Ateneo de Manila University, 6-5, last January 16 at the Rizal Memorial Baseball Park.

The black-and-gold batters swept the first round of Season 73 hostilities last December and maintained an immaculate 8-0 win-loss card in the second round. Trailing UST are National University and Ateneo with a 4-3 and 4-4 standing, respectively. NU’s second game against University of the Philippines was postponed because of the hard rain last January 9.

IN SEPARATE competitions during the Christmas break, the UST Tracksters brought glory, not only for the school, but also for the whole country.

Seven UST Tracksters joined the Philippine delegation in the 15th ASEAN University Games (AUG) held in Chiangmai, Thailand from December 15 to 23.

Tracksters Meriam Colangoy, Luville Dato-on, Serenata Saluan, Keizel Pedriña, Viena Mae and Ma. Dela Paz Banebane, and Roger Denolo contributed five out to the 33 medals of the Philippines, 10 of which came from the Athletics division.

Colangoy, team captain of the UST Female Tracksters, clocked in two minutes and 57.13 seconds in the hepthathlon event to bring home a silver medal.

WHEN YOU lose your aces, you go with what’s left in the deck.

Fortunately for the UST Male Tennisters, holdovers from last year’s champion team delivered as they moved a step closer to sweeping the first round of the UAAP Lawn Tennis eliminations. They will ride on a clean 3-0 slate, going into an anticipated showdown with De La Salle University.

“If we want to win, we can’t win by our veterans alone,” coach Karl Santamaria said. “Everyone has to chip in. Right now, we have three rookies playing important roles in the team without our top players from last year and I told them to expect a hostile environment.”

DEFENDING champion Lady Spikers suffered a monumental upset at the hands of the University of the Philippines Lady Maroons for their third loss of the season.

The Lady Maroons, the cellar dwellers, played more like the championship team in pounding out a gritty 25-23, 13-25, 25-23, 20-25, 24-22 victory against UST at The Arena in San Juan last Sunday.

Despite the defeat, the powerhouse Lady Spikers kept their hold on the second spot with a 7-3 win-loss card.

Pre-game analyses predicted a Santo Tomas onslaught against a hapless UP squad, which went into the game with just one victory against 8 losses. The Lady Spikers were riding high on their dominant, three-set victory against the National University four days earlier.

The Philippine Azkals, which made football history by shaming a regional powerhouse last year, included a Thomasian.

Though Golden Booter David Basa spent most his time warming the bench, he knows the experience was priceless especially that day the Azkals routed Vietnam before a capacity crowd of 40,000 at the My Dinh Stadium in Hanoi.

“I felt the pressure of the people as well as the weight of representing the country,” said the 21-year-old Basa, who is on his last playing year at the UAAP. “The intensity of the game was very different.”

Basa drew the interest of a member of the national team’s coaching staff who saw him play in UST’s tune-up games with the squad. He was formally recruited last August.

DESPITE having no training facility of their own, the UST Male Fencers scored a respectable third place performance in the UAAP to offset the last place finish of the women’s squad.

The Male Fencers chalked up a 1-2-1 gold-silver-bronze medal haul, only one gold shy of reigning champion University of the Philippines’ collection of 2-1-2 medals and runner-up Ateneo’s 2-0-1 finish.

Coach Arman Bernal said the outcome would have been better if the fencers had a regular training facility on campus.

“We used to train in Ultra where other schools train as well, that’s why they might have read and studied our techniques,” he said in Filipino. “But equipment-wise, we don’t have any trouble, that’s why we work hard to win and give the glory back to UST.”