Tag: November 21

AT THE end of the first half of UAAP Season 77, the UST Tigers are poised to reclaim the overall championship from defending champion De La Salle University.

The Tigers garnered a total of 152 points, highlighted by championships from men and women’s judo, men’s taekwondo and women’s beach volleyball.

UST also bagged a silver medal in the men’s beach volleyball and placed third in men’s swimming, women’s table tennis and taekwondo, and poomsae which gave a slim five-point breathing room for the Tigers over La Salle.

SEVERAL alumni and a Thomasian athlete will represent the country as part of the national volleyball team that will compete in the 2015 South East Asian (SEA) Games in Singapore on June 5 to 16.

The Philippine Volleyball Federation recently announced its final 18-man and 18-woman lineups where eight Thomasian athletes were included in both squads, namely Mark Gil Alfafara, Henry Pecaña, Jayson Ramos, John Paul Torres, Rhea Dimaculangan, Maika Ortiz, Aiza Maizo-Pontillas, and Mary Jean Balse.

For the past few years, UST has produced a number of players donning the national colors in previous SEA Games. Among them were Angeli Tabaquero and Venus Bernal, who were part of the 2013 women’s national pool.

DUE TO the change in the University’s academic calendar and priority given to the studies of its athletes, UST missed the annual University Games (UniGames) held at the University of San Agustin in Iloilo last Oct. 20 to 28.

The Institute of Physical Education and Athletics (IPEA) decided not to send a delegation in the annual tournament, which serves as a preseason for second semester sports, since UST athletes were still attending classes.

FROM a player to a UST coach to a national coach, Odjie Mamon hopes to stay true to the winning tradition of Thomasian volleyball.

The newly-minted coach of Philippine Cobra, the country’s men’s volleyball team, has been with UST since his high school days and has been a fixture at the UAAP where he won three championships as a Tiger Spiker from 1988 to 1993.

The former middle blocker recalled how the UAAP has changed since his stint as a player to now where he is the head coach for both the Golden Tigresses and the Tiger Spikers.

UAAP competition has become tougher, but UST is still not keen on seeking more private benefactors to lure better athletes.

Fr. Ermito de Sagon, O.P., director of the Institute of Physical Education and Athletics (IPEA), insisted that the University would not spend big amounts of money for sports just because it’s a “well-known school,” saying the practice was unethical.

“We maintain that our athletes are amateurs. If they want to play in UST, we welcome them but those who think they need to get something out of their skill and are being offered [something] somewhere else, they may go,” he told the Varsitarian.

PROMISING an improved lineup, the UST Tracksters are aiming for nothing less than a gold-medal finish, hoping to end the Far Eastern University’s decade-long dominance of the UAAP athletics tournament.

“Positive ako na mas malaki ang chance ngayon na mag-champion ang women’s team, pero sa men’s team, sana lang ma-retain pa rin ang second [place],” coach Emmanuel Calipes said.

The women’s team getting a boost in the middle and long distance run, Calipes is confident that the Female Tracksters can finally reclaim the crown after 12 years.

“Ninety percent sure [ako] na makukuha namin ang championship this year. I-aassure ko na magiging maganda ang performance ng team pag dating ng competition,” he told the Varsitarian.

THE UST Growling Tigers will have to wait for UAAP Season 78 for a shot at redemption after being snubbed in the Luzon-Metro Manila leg of the 2014 Philippine Collegiate Champions League (PCCL) slated on Nov. 7 to 10 in Tanauan, Batangas.

For the first time since 2010, UST will miss the annual national men’s basketball championships after organizers changed the format for inviting participants.

In the past, the PCCL invited the top six schools from the men’s basketball tournaments of UAAP and National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) with the fifth and sixth teams serving as wildcards. UST was supposed to join after finishing sixth in UAAP Season 77 until the format was changed, allowing only the Final Four teams to compete.

AGAIN, the numbers have spoken.

Following an arduous first-semester campaign, UST once more is perched comfortably atop the UAAP general championship ladder, capturing four titles and three runner-up finishes along the way for a commanding 154 point-aggregate.

Stalking the “ten-peat” UAAP overall titlists is the University of the Philippines (UP) with 126 points for second place while Far Eastern University (FEU) was a distant third with 117 markers.

Epitomizing UST’s supremacy were the men’s table tennis team and the women’s chess teams who struck gold in their respective events. Also finishing first were the women’s taekwondo and swimming squads.

UST juggernaut

DOMINATION.

Leaving behind the stigma of their Season 69 finals defeat, the UST Lady Booters mauled all opposition to stay unscathed in their 7th Metro Manila Girls Football Association campaign.

The Season 69 bridesmaids carved out an impressive 6.6 percent average winning margin to get to a 4-0-1 win-loss-draw record in the tournament.

Parading their UAAP game-face in imposing fashion, the Lady Booters blanked the Ateneo de Manila, 2-0, last October 14 at the De La Salle-Zobel football field.

Hounded by the Ateneo’s tight first half marking, Lady Booter Mary Ignacio reaped payback in the opening minute of the second half, uncorking a powerful strike to put the Lady Booters on top, 1-0.

A moment later in the 47th minute, Ignacio slotted home a second goal off an assist by Patricia Perlas.

THE SWASHBUCKLING UST Male Fencers struck a pose in time for the coming UAAP wars, carving a bridesmaid finish in the Interclub Fencing Competition last September 28 at the SM Megamall in Ortigas.

“This is only part of our training in preparation for the coming UAAP season,” coach Bienvenido Orlanes told the Varsitarian.

Despite absorbing a 50-60 loss to Season 69 champion University of the East (UE) Red Skirts, the Male Fencers carried out a show as they struck their way to an early nine-point binge, 15-6.

However, UE fencer Bonifacio Jacintos slashed UST’s lead to only 19-20, altering the complexion of the match in favor of the Red Skirts. From a 43-45 margin halfway into the bout, UE banked on the prolific Jacintos exploits in the 10th round en route to a decisive 44-50 upperhand for the gold.