MANILA, Philippines – Jose Rizal made its presence felt in the field events of centerpiece athletics after copping the gold and silver medals in shotput courtesy of Eduard Paler and John Mantua in Season 86 of the NCAA at the Philsports grounds in Pasig.
Paler heaved at 13.12 meters to snare the gold while Mantua threw at 12.42 to pocket the silver to complete the Bombers’ strong 1-2 finish.
Letran’s Randolph Hernandez mustered 11.43m that was good enough for a bronze.
Mapua also made its presence felt after coming through with a pair of golden feats courtesy of Niño Espinosa and Robin Bunda.
Espinosa took the long jump gold with a distance of 6.88m, edging Jose Rizal’s brother tandem of Mark and Melbert Diones while Bunda topped pole vault in 4.21m.
to give the Cardinals their second mint of the day.
Letran continued to impress as it lorded it over the 4x100m relay in 42.8 seconds while Christian Bagsit reigned supreme in the 200m dash in 21.7 seconds, besting Edgardo Alejan of Mapua and Daniel Nova of St. Benilde, who both finished with 22 seconds.
Patrick Faderogao of Perpetual Help ruled high jump in 1.95m, overcoming Melbert and Mark Diones, who had 1.90 and 1.85, respectively.
St. Benilde, currently at second behind San Beda in the race for the overall championship this season, drew its strength from Oscar Pasia, who won the discus throw gold with a heave of 37.59, ahead of Paler (36.49) and Hernandez (35.87).