THE ATENEO Blue and Lady Eagles competed in day 3 of the University Athletics Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 79 Track and Field Championship. The competition itself was held on Friday, February 10 at the Philsports Arena (Formerly ULTRA).
Blue Eagles
Veterans Che Guevarra, Rabbi Villanueva and Mikee Ruiz donned the Blue and White in the 400m run heats. After a fierce campaign, the boys ranked 13th, 18th and 21th, respectively. Clocking times of 51.51 (Guevarra), 52.53 (Villanueva) and 52.86 (Ruiz), the trio were unable to make the final round, but held their heads high as they were determined to exceed themselves in the upcoming events.
Guevarra would return to hustle with Maui Ramos, Henry Gonzales and Team Captain Gab Vera Cruz in the 4x100m relay. It proved to be an aggressive event, as the squad ending up ranking 5th with a time of 43.56s, just behind La Salle’s bronze 43.32s finish. “It was a better start compared to what we do in training. “Iba sa practice yung nagawa namin like yung mga pasa namin ni Che masyadong malapit na and yung iba pagod na rin from the past few days (It’s different when we do it in practice, like my passes with Che were too near and the others are already tired from the past few days),” Vera Cruz commented.
More notable is Henry Gonzales’ bronze medal finish from the decathlon events of day 1 and 2. He received his medal on the third day of the tournament for his participation in the various deca-events that included a 100m dash, high jump and javelin throw, among others. After consistently achieving high-ranking scores, his final score was tallied at 5,166 points behind University of the East’s (UE) Martinez (5337) and Far Eastern University’s Ubas (6273).
Lady Eagles
The Lady Eagles also had quite a day competing in five different events. The first of which was the 400m run heats that saw Kim Zulueta (59.23s), Nika Crisostomo (1.01.19), Betty Margulies (1.05.07) and Sheila Patiño (1.05.07) don the Blue and White in the women’s division. Among the four, Kim Zulueta solidified her sensation status by ranking 5th in the heat and moving on to the final round. In the final 400m run event, she moved up a rank higher (4th) with a time of 58.76s, behind UE’s Elisa Aguinaldo’s 58.59s time.
Zulueta would also return later on to participate in the women’s 4x100m relay with Crisostomo, Caparros and Margulies. Together, the quartet achieved a time of 50.30s, ranking 5th behind the UE squad.
In addition to these events, rookie Sophia De Dios made her UAAP discus throw debut and achieved a distance of 27.52m; only a small distance away from her target of 30m. De Dios ranked 13th in her event.
De Dios’ fellow rookies Jia Kawachi and Martha Capistrano competed in the women’s pole vault event with veterans Kyla Gancayco and Chaloo Yao. After Capistrano was eliminated early in the event, Gancayco was able to reach a height of 2.20m ranking 11th. Yao eventually fell at 2.40m, ranking 10th, while Kawachi adamantly proved herself as a rookie standout, finishing 5th with a height of 2.80m.
As day 3 comes to a close, it is important to note that Ateneo Track and Field have fought with intense determination and will throughout the competition. Day 4 will have Mikee Ruiz and Rabbi Villanueva running the 400m hurdles, while the ladies will have Sophia De Dios fronting the Blue and White in the shot put event.
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