The Varsitarian

THE CHURCH mourns as the country’s oldest bishop and last living delegate to the Second Vatican Council, Bishop Manuel del Rosario, succumbed to pneumonia last March 23 at Yanga Hospital in Bocaue, Bulacan. His remains were buried at the crypt of the Immaculate Conception Cathedral in neighboring Malolos five years later.

In a funeral mass for the late Bishop last March 27, Papal Nuncio to the Philippines Archbishop Edward Joseph Adams lauded Del Rosario in his homily for being an “exponent of hope” despite his illness.

“A priest for 70 years, a bishop for 53 years, and a Christian for the past 93 years, Del Rosario, lived by faith in his existence serving God,” Adams said.

Fr. Allan Antonio, Del Rosario’s relative, said the bishop made a valuable contribution to the Church by spearheading the establishment of the Immaculate Conception Seminary in Bulacan. read more »

NAGA CITY – Neither the elements nor a pack of blue-chip contenders could keep the powerhouse UST contingent from leading the National Capital Region (NCR) to the top of the 2009 Private Schools Athletic Association (Prisaa) medal tally last April 19 to 26.

The UST athletes’ 55-22-28 gold-silver-bronze harvest in four of five disciplines underscored the 106-36-33 medal output of the mighty NCR delegation, way ahead of eventual second and third placers Western (Region 6) and Central (Region 7) Visayas which capped the meet with 88-45-56 and 53-53-51 counts, respectively.

Leading UST were the Male Tracksters who erased their UAAP bridesmaid stigma to perennial rival Far Eastern University after dashing to the finish line with 20 golds, 13 silvers and 22 bronzes.

In swimming, the Female Tigersharks fueled the Big City bets’ pool domination, which yielded 51 golds, 21 silvers and 10 bronzes.  read more »

NAGA CITY – Black, gold and white remain as the colors of the diamond throne in the Private Schools Athletics Association (Prisaa).

Representing the National Capital Region (NCR), the UST Golden Sox and Softbelles once again dashed their Region XI counterparts’ title hopes as they ruled separate finals matches last April 25 at the Metro Naga Sports Complex in Pacol district here.

The Golden Sox, the defending “three-peat” champion, subdued their Region XI opponents via a 10-8 nail-biter, while the Softbelles, reigning titlists, essayed a lopsided 19-1 finals victory to cap the week-long tournament with unblemished win-loss records.

“All the teams that participated in this year’s Prisaa greatly improved. Even the Davao team we faced last year got stronger that’s why we fought a thrilling fight in the championship,” UST Golden Sox coach Jeffrey Santos, who was named as the Best Coach, told the Varsitarian.  read more »

NAGA CITY – The unlikely team-up of the UST Tracksters and the University of the East powered NCR to the top of the Prisaa athletics competition as the Big City bets copped 20 golds, 13 silvers and 22 bronzes last April 19-25 at the Metro Naga Sports Complex here.

“Our partnership with UE worked out quite well. This year’s Prisaa result turned out much better than last year,” UAAP Season 71 Most Valuable Player Ben Alejandrino told the Varsitarian.  read more »

NAGA CITY – Heaping superlatives on the UST Female Tigersharks to underscore their Prisaa dominance will not do the trick. Counting the medals around their necks will.

The Female Tigersharks proved that they would take on the best of the best even with three mainstays out of commission, helping the National Capital Region (NCR) retain the over-all title in women’s swimming last April 21 to 24.

UST coach Agot Alcantara, also named the tournament’s best coach, said NCR would have collected more medals if not for the absence of Layann Ramos, Edzen Dinglazan, and Lianne Marquez. The trio skipped the tournament for academic reasons.

Joining hands with San Beda College, which represented the Big City tankers in the men’s division, the Female Tigersharks gifted NCR with 51 golds, 21 silvers and 10 bronzes.  read more »

A DISMAL start did not faze the UST Lady Spikers from claiming their first victory in the Shakey’s V-league quarterfinals as they dealt UAAP archrival Far Eastern University with a 19-25, 25-18, 25-7, 25-19 whipping last May 19 at The Arena in San Juan.

The Lady Spikers, who topped the eliminations with a 5-1 win-loss record, struggled defensively to contain a hail of attacks from FEU stalwarts Cherry Mae Vivas, Mecaila Morada and Rachel Anne Daquis back in the first set.

But the FEU onslaught did not last long.

Sensing the Lady Tamaraws’ weak receptions, guest players Michelle Carolino and Mary Jean Balse launched themselves atop the net, firing a variety of kills and cross-court attacks coupled with a solid blocking effort from Hannah Mance to spark a 7-3 exchange for a 17-5 UST lead in the second frame. UST closed the set with a late 7-2 surge anchored on another attakking binge by Carolino and Aiza Maizo.  read more »

THE UST Paddlers highlighted their off-season build-up with medal-clinching feats in the 11th Donic-Star Sports University of the Philippines (UP) Chancellor’s Cup National Invitational Table Tennis Tournament last March 31 to April 4 at the UP College of Human Kinetics (CHK) gym in Starmall Alabang.

UST reaped two golds and a bronze in the tournament.

Lady Paddler Cassandra Bazar teamed up with Tiger Paddlers assistant coach Julius Esposo to rule the mixed doubles event via a 3-0 shellacking of teammate Chrisma Capistrano and UST Junior Paddlers head coach Celjun Ortalla.

“I think chemistry brought us to the championship because being comfortable with your partner is a crucial factor,” said Bazar, a former Palarong Pambansa gold medalist. “Both Chrisma (Capistrano) and I didn’t have enough practice prior to the match. Maybe I was also lucky since coach Julius gave me a big boost.”  read more »

NAGA CITY – The rookie-laden UST Tigresses may have hurdled the bumpy elimination-round challenge of a gutsy Calabarzon (Region IV-A) squad but not the roadblock posed by the dreaded quotient system as the defending champions bowed out of title contention in the 2009 Prisaa women’s basketball tournament at the University of Nueva Caceres gym last April 24.

Despite waylaying the Region IV-A lasses, 69-62, for a 3-1 win-loss card, the Tigresses – who played minus most of their mainstays – still found themselves at the tail-end of a three-team log-jam after only amassing .968 quotient points against the 1.059 and .972 norms of bracket topnotcher Bacolod-Western Visayas (Region 6) and Calabarzon, respectively.  read more »

AIMING for a semi-finals berth in their Nike Summer League (NSL) campaign, the UST Tiger Cubs coasted past Don Bosco Technical College (Don Bosco), 51-36, in their face-off last April 30 at the Far Eastern University (FEU) gym.

The win catapulted the Tiger Cubs on top of Group B in the juniors’ division with a 2-1 win-loss record.

“It was a light game for us. The team’s performance was okay but I’m not yet satisfied. There’s still a lot to improve especially in their sense of maturity,” coach Allan Ascue told the Varsitarian. read more »

Kakaiba ang kadiliman sa gabing ito: walang buwan at wala ring mga bituin. Puro ulap ang naghahari kasabay ang malamig at malakas na ihip ng hangin. Bihira kasi ang ganitong pagkakataon sa tuwing tag-init.

Dapat sana sinasamantala ko ang lamig ng gabing ito. Gusto ko na ngang mahiga sa kama at ipikit ang aking mga mata. Kaya lang hindi pupuwede kasi nandito ako ngayon sa terasa namin, nagsasampay kasama ni Mama.

Kung bakit kasi pumayag pa akong tulungan siyang ipanik dito ang mga labahin. Ang paki-usap niya lang kasi kanina ay tulungan ko siyang maglaba. Kaso nadaya na naman niya ako. Kaya heto, no choice na ako. Tinutulungan ko na rin siyang magsampay.  read more »