Athletes of the Year, MVPs feted in UAAP Awards tonite

The curtain goes down tonight on season 65 of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP), but not without the glitter of an Awards Night that will fete the best and the finest athletes of the country’s most prestigious collegiate league.

The annual awards are slated 6 p.m. at the Quezon City Sports Club.

University of Santo Tomas (UST) will climb the stage anew to receive two big trophies representing the overall championships in both the collegiate and high school divisions.

To stand side by side with UST are the Most Valuable Players (MVPs) in each of the 35 events in both divisions, all of whom are expected to sit at the edge of their seats all night until after the four Athletes of the Year (AOYs) -- male and female in seniors and boy and girl in juniors -- are announced.

The UAAP board has kept the AOY identities under wraps until tonight, when the league caps a season that would go down as one of the most colorful, if not one that has reached more audience far and wide through television’s magic with ABS-CBN and Studio 23.

Sonny Paguia, the ageless former head coach of general host National University (NU) and the president of the 2002-2003 UAAP, will also hand over the reins of hosting to Jose Capistrano Jr. of Ateneo, which wound up as an equally big winner after the Blue Eagles beat archrivals La Salle Green Archers for the centerpiece men’s basketball crown.

UST clinched the overall championship in the collegiate division by garnering 295 points, beating De La Salle which wound up second with 273. The order of finish in the collegiate division that played 26 events in 14 sports: University of the Philippines (UP) third 248, University of the East (UE) fourth 196, Ateneo fifth 170, Far Eastern (FEU) sixth 148, Adamson seventh 87 and NU eighth 18.

In high school action, UST topped with 97 points, followed by UE with 94, La Salle with 81, Ateneo with 79, UP with 76, NU with 22 and Adamson with eight.

Athletes who also competed abroad as national team members will also be feted by the UAAP.