UE, FEU rule athletics; Warrior ends Diay’s reign

MANILA, Philippines - University of the East’s (UE) Richard Salano and Far Eastern University’s (FEU) Jennysmille Mabunga snatched the MVP trophies, Lady Warrior Jennyrose Rosales shattered one of the legendary Lydia de Vega’s records and the Tamaraws again swept the men’s and women’s overall crowns in UAAP Season 76 athletics in 2013.

Salano snatched the gold medals in the 10,000 and 5,000 meters and 5,000 meters steeplechase and also clinched silver in the 1,500 meters, while Mabunga emerged as the queen of the track with victories in the 1,500, 5,000 and 10,000 meters as well as the 3,000 meters steeplechase on top of a silver in the 800 meters to underscore FEU’s domination of the sport that now extends to 11 straight titles in the women’s and fourth consecutive in the men’s side.

FEU accumulated a commanding 378.5 points to bag the overall crown in the men’s division, a feat also highlighted by the four gold medals Isidro Del Prado Jr. won for the Tamaraws in the 4 x 100 and 4 x 400 relays and the 200 and 400 meters.

Janry Ubas was the Tamaraws’ pride in the field events, bagging golds in pole vault, long jump and high jump. Not to be outdone was Rafael Polquit Jr., who won the 5,000 and 10,000 meters.

University of Santo Tomas was a far second with 299 points, followed by University of the Philippines (242 points) in third in the athletics competitions staged at the La Salle-Dasmariñas oval in Cavite.

The Lady Tamaraws also looked virtually unchallenged with 451 points. UST (394 points) was second and University of the East (233 points) was third, a performance highlighted by Rosales’s record-breaking 54.65 seconds in the women’s 400 meters that broke the 54.75 seconds track great De Vega established in the 1981 Manila Southeast Asian Games at the historic Rizal Memorial Oval.

UP’s Fel Vincent Quetolio and UST’s Eloiza Luzon were named the top rookies for Season 76.

Quetolio won the shot-put event with a heave of 12.20 meters, while Luzon anchored the gold-medal winning 4x100-meter relay team with Aldee Faith Denuyo, Michelle Loterte and Glaiza Salcedo. She also finished second in the 100 and 200 meters.