The Varsitarian

THEY WERE the bolts and nuts responsible for holding UST’s general championship dynamo in place. Yet again, the Pontifical University is atop everybody else in the UAAP plateau, for the 10th straight year.

Ten MVPs and seven Rookies of the Year (ROY) led twenty-six Thomasian stalwarts who reaped individual honors in their respective disciplines, highlighting UST’s supremacy in eight of the 28 events up in the UAAP’s 15-sport calendar this season.

Pitching their towering contributions to the España republic’s unprecedented general championship “ten-peat” – the first in the league’s 70-year-old history – were MVPs Maclean Barraquias, Reno Roque, Jervy Cruz, Jose Miguel Cagalingan, Reygea Rosales, Nikki Manalo, Zayrah dela Cruz, Rose Ann dela Cruz, Kathleen Valenzuela, and Bernardita Mag-aso.

Barraquias, a five-year UAAP veteran, and ROY Raymond Villarete fueled the Male Tennisters’ back-to-back title romp via an emphatic sweep. Save for brooming all their assignments, the newcomer Manalo also carried the Lady Tennisters to a title repeat of their own, demolishing her more seasoned opponents with relative ease.

Reasserting their dominance on the board, the Lady Woodpushers spearheaded by Dela Cruz and ROY Rizza Mae Dizon cruised past the opposition to pocket their third straight chess title.

Together with former MVPs Esther Marie Singson and Maria Rainie Rose Arca, and Season 69 ROY Camille Manalo, Valenzuela and Season 70 ROY Emron Mae Golding powered the Lady Jins to a historic “five-peat” in women’s taekwondo.

Rosales mustered enough skill and courage to deny arch-rival Far Eastern University (FEU) a back-to-back championship, bringing the table tennis diadem back to UST via a make-or-break fifth-game stunner over Michael Buhia.

With both Roque and ROY Jayson Ramos on the firing end, the Tiger Spikers kissed a five-year title-lull goodbye, as they dethroned bitter rival FEU in a grueling three-game finals series. Also providing the steady hands for the Tiger Spikers’ Season 70 campaign were Charles Reyes and Raykarl Dimaculangan, who received the Best Libero and Best Server awards, respectively. In women’s play, Lady Spiker Mary Jean Balse was named Best Spiker.

On the other hand, Dela Cruz’s gutsy exploits helped UST dispell a 13-year badminton curse as the Lady Shuttlecockers ousted Season 69 champion FEU.

Cagalingan, for his part, steered the Male Fencers to their first-ever UAAP title since the sport’s inception in 2000.

Half-full

Despite failing to retain UST’s cage titles, Cruz and Mythical Five member Marichu Bacaro flashed sensational performances, catapulting their respective teams to Final Four finishes.

Norming 16.7 points, 15.4 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks a game for the Tigers, the 6-foot-4 Cruz won the MVP trophy with 75.86 statistical points.

In the distaff side, Bacaro emerged as the league’s top scoring cagebelle, racking up season averages of 17 points and 7.9 rebounds an outing. Veteran court-general Japs Cuan, on the other hand, notched the Best Assist award with 4.8 dishes per game.

Amid a foiled title-retention bid, the Golden Sox still proved indomitable on the diamond as they snared most of the individual awards with rookie sensation Chun Wang Song leading the pack as Season 70’s prized newbie. Song was also cited for Most Homeruns and Most Runs-Batted-In.

Season 69 MVP Jon-Jon Robles took Best Pitcher honors while teammate Israel Ona was named Best Slugger and Best Hitter.

Mag-aso, who bagged three golds and a silver, reset four new UAAP records, smashing the previous marks in the 800-meter, 5,00

0-meter, 1,500-meter events. She later teamed up with ROY Luville Dato-on, Keizel Pedriña, and Ma. Dele Paz Banebane to rewrite the 4x400-meter relay record. Dato-on bagged four golds and a silver.

Rookie sensation Emmanuel Delos Angeles clinched the high jump gold on top of a bronze in the 4x100-meter relay for the Male Tracksters.

In swimming, top rookie Marvie Borja tallied two silvers and a bronze to reinforce the Female Tigersharks’ four-year command of the UAAP waters.

Meanwhile, Golden Booter Ricardo Becite and Tiger Judoka Romeo Arellano grabbed the Best Midfielder and Best Ippon awards, respectively, to offset their teams’ inability to retain the football and judo titles they won last season.

Beyond UAAP

Top-caliber Thomasian athletes continue to prove their worth abroad.

Leading the elite cast of UST-trained international achievers is former Tiger jin Tshomlee Go who qualified for the 2008 Beijing Olympics last September. Go also won the 64-kg. gold in the 24th Southeast Asian Games taekwondo competition in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand last December.

Cruz manned the paint for the RP quintet which annexed the country’s 14th SEA Games basketball gold via a 4-0 sweep while Lady poolshark Rubilen Amit successfully defended her 9-ball singles title.

Robles pitched for the RP batters, who took the silver, while Emily Tayag backstopped the country’s softball team en route to a gold-medal finish. Ana Mae G. Roa