DETERMINED TO prove that last year’s success was no fluke, the Ateneo Arnis team garnered a tally of 46 medals from the Philippine Olympic Festival: NCR Regional Arnis Tournament held from June 27-29 at SM San Lazaro, Tayuman.
The tough Seniors Anyo Competition individual category proved tough for the men’s team. Jonric Atienza (III BS Mgt)’s bronze and Miguel Ignacio’s (II AB Psy) silver were the teams lone medals in the Single and Double Identical Weapon Category respectively.
Meanwhile, the women’s team flourished in the same Anyo competition. Bernie Tan (III AB Psy) and Maria Yap (IV BS Mgt) garnered the top two places in the Double Identical Weapon Category.
Yap also earned a silver medal in the Espada y Daga category, where she was second best to Monique Paloma (IV AB MEco). Rounding out the women’s success in the division was the silver earned by Maria Hipolito (III BS Mgt) in the Single Weapon Category.
“The summer training really made us a lot stronger and more skillful for this tournament,” said women’s Team Captain Yap.
The first gold of the men’s team came in the Boys Division with Josef Go-Oco (II BS CS), Jerzey Pangilinan (II BS CTM), and Kevin Umali (II BS CS) excelling in the Double Identical Weapon Category.
A team, composed of Samantha Chan (II BFA ID), Echie Hernandez (II BS CTM), and Anne Laxa (II BS Mgt), achieved silver in the Girls Division of the Double Identical Weapon Category.
The men’s team continued their success in Seniors Team Categories, gaining two gold medals. Ralph Medina (III BS MIS), Roberto Singson (III BS MIS), and Jeff Tan (III BS Mgt) ruled both the Single Weapon and Double Identical Weapon Category.
“The atmosphere was great in terms of supporting each other in the tournament,” said Ignacio.
The women’s team dominated team competition with hardware across the board. The team composed of Stephanie Dandal (III AB MEco), Bernie Tan, and Ma. Cristina Tanchoco (III AB Eu) won second in the Single Weapon Category. Tan and Tanchoco teamed up once more with Jillianne Gomez (III AB MEco) in the Double Identical Weapon Category to win silver.
Meanwhile, the team of Hipolito, Paloma, and Yap added to their individual tallies, this time as a team. They gained top honors in both Double Identical Weapon and Espada y Daga categories.
Pangilinan scored the lone goal in the Boys Division with his win at the Extra Light Weight level. While at the Half Light Weight category, Umali and Ellix Salavadora (II BS Mgt-H) gained the second and third spots, respectively. Meanwhile Ian Estrada (II BS ME) garnered silver and Go-Oco a bronze in the Light Weight Division.
Meanwhile, the Lady Arnisadors added four more medals to their tally. Dandal and Bernie Tan both gained golds from the Half Middle Weight and Half Heavy Weight category, respectively.
Hipolito won second honors at the Half Light Weight level. Yap, on the other hand, took a bronze at the Extra Light Weight to round out the women’s efforts.
The men’s team ended with six medals in Full Contact Competition. Ignacio and Atienza dominated the Featherweight division with first and third places, respectively.
Jeff Tan won bronze in the Half Light Weight which was equaled by Singson at the Middle Weight level. Medina won silver at the Half Middle Weight level. Keith Yap (III BS CTM) won top honors at the Half Heavy Weight division to seal his place in the nationals.
Coach Richard Gialogo believes this batch is special in terms of development and talent and are ready for the nationals. “Usually, I spend a year physically developing the rookies. But with this batch, I could go straight to skills development,” he said.
