BLUE EAGLE Joseph Bernard Capinpin and Lady Eagle Kimberly Zulueta from the Ateneo Track and Field teams bore the Philippine flag in the athletics tournament of the 18th ASEAN University Games held last July 14, 2016- July 15, 2016 at the Choa Chu Kang Stadium in Singapore.
Similar to the delegation process of other individual sports tournaments, the University Athletics Association of the Philippines (UAAP) chose the participants based on their recent performances in the last UAAP season and other national tournaments.
For the athletics division, the delegation pool was decided by the coaches from the different UAAP schools during a meeting. Through the coordination of Ateneo Track and Field Director Misael Perez with the other UAAP schools, Capinpin and Zulueta were identified as the athletes with medal potential based on the results of the previous AUG held in Palembang, Indonesia.
Another factor that was taken into account was their performances in the Philippine National Games and National Open, which occurred after the Season 78 Track and Field season. Capinpin bagged a silver medal in the Men’s Decathlon in the National Open held last April, while Zulueta landed third in the Women’s 100m Dash of the UAAP Season ’78.
Despite the rigorous selection process and the stellar performances in the recent competitions, tracksters Capinpin and Zulueta failed to land with a podium finish during the games. Both participants were entered in the Men’s and Women’s 200m Dash events, respectively. However, only Zulueta made it to the final round by placing third in her heat with a time of 26.21 seconds. Capinpin fell short of his other Southeast Asian competitors as he timed 23.55 seconds, landing in 5th of his preliminary heat.
Come finals, Zulueta looked into placing on the podium but she was still no match for her competitors. However, she was able to improve her finals time to her personal best of 25.95 seconds and land in 5th in the overall standings.
The Ateneo tracksters also took a spot in the men’s and women’s 4 x 100m relay events, in which both teams failed to land on the podium due to the advanced skills of the international competitors in the sport.
Although both Katipunan-based players physically prepared well for the competition, the fact of it being their first international competition overwhelmed them in terms of expectations.
“I didn’t exactly know what to expect,” says Zulueta. “I told myself: this is all for the experience so I have to just do my best and have not regrets, especially [that] I didn’t know how strong my rivals were.”
On the other hand, Capinpin got off a wrong start in his individual event, as he burst into a sprint too early in the Men’s 200m Dash, which burned him out in the end of the event. “I felt the need to showcase what a Filipino university athlete could do,” says Capinpin. “I deviated from my usual distribution; my time was horrible. I let the competition dictate how I’d normally run.”
Fortunately, Capinpin was able to refocus his game strategy by sticking to his usual technique and contributed to the initial lead of the Philippine team in the Men’s 4 x 100m Relay.
