CESAFI 2006 UC expected to overtake USC when athletics start

The University of Cebu Webmasters is expected to overtake University of San Carlos Warriors in the leaderboard starting tomorrow as the athletics event of the 2006 Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. (CESAFI) kicks off at the Cebu City Sports Center (CCSC).

The Warriors is currently leading the race for the over-all championship title in the tertiary division at the close of five games with a medal haul of 21 gold, 23 silver and 21 bronze medals as defending champion the Webmasters trails with 17 gold, nine silver and 13 bronze medals.

But the Warriors are expected to relinquish the driver's seat starting tomorrow when the centerpiece track and field events will fire off at the CCSC.

There will be 37 gold medals at stake and USC is not among the contenders because the school does not have a track and field team.

The Webmasters are the defending champion in the track and field competition and they are expected to get more than half of the gold medals at stake.

National Open juniors division gold medalist Anselmo Esgana and 2006 Palarong Pambansa 400m hurdles record holder Jorge Pinanonang will be leading the charge for the Webmasters as they try to defend their turf.

Esgana is expected to dominate the high jump event, where he won the gold in the 2006 National Open in Nueva Ecjia while Pinanonang as the hands down favorite in the 400m hurdles and the 400m dash.

Not to mention is defending champion Anthony Santillan, who is again poised to smoke the competitions in the 100 and 200m dash.

University of Southern Philippines Foundation (USPF) will also be a force to reckon with as they have National Open 110m hurdles gold medalist Harren Melendez and long distance runner Mendel Lopez for the 5,000 and 10,000m runs.

Southwestern University, for its part, will be banking on walkathon specialist Eden Dampios while University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) has Angel Lado, who is expected to win the gold in shot put and discus throw.

Other Results

The Warriors and the Webmasters topped in their respective divisions in the swimming event of the CESAFI at the Cebu City Aquatic Center.

The USC swim team grabbed a total of 19 gold, 22 silver and 10 bronze medals to rule the tertiary division while UC reigned in the secondary division, garnering 17 gold, three silver and eight bronze medals.

Finishing second to USC in the tertiary division is UC with 17 gold, six silver and 10 bronze medals and Velez College was third with four gold and a silver. University of the Visayas (UV) was fourth with two gold, 12 silver and three bronze medals.

Taking the second place honors in the secondary division is USC with nine gold, 15 silver and 7 bronze medals while University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) was third with one gold, five silver and eight bronze medals. The fourth placer was UV with 10 silver and three bronze medals.

Scrabble event was ruled by UV and the silver was won by UC. USC took the bronze medal.

Sepak takraw saw the domination of SWU while UC and UV placed second and third, respectively.

The top honors in badminton were shared by USJ-R and UV.

USJ-R topped in the women's side and UC was second. UV clinched the third post while UV won in the men's side and USJ-R and UC, completed the top three.

USC grabbed two gold medals in lawn tennis with its men and women's doubles team taking the plum.

UV is the first runner-up and USJ-R is the second runner up in the men's while USJ-R settled for second in the women's and UV placed third.

UV topped in the men's singles while USJR took the silver. UC and USJ-R shared the bronze.

The top two positions in the women's division were garnered by USJ-R and the bronze medalists were UC and USC.