THE ATENEO Blue and Lady Eagles opened this year’s campaign, kicking off Day 1 of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 80 Track and Field tournament on Wednesday, February 7, at the Philsports Arena in Pasig.
Blue Eagles
The Men’s team started the day in the 100m heats with Maui Ramos, Miguel Villareal, and Leo Valera competing in different heats. Jonathan Talbot was disqualified from his heat due to false start, and Ramos was the only Blue Eagle who qualified for the 100m final, clocking in 11.04 seconds to rank 3rd in his heat and 4th overall. Valera finished at (11.89s) and Villareal at (11.46s), ranking 5th in their respective heats and 19th and 16th overall.
Ramos then finished at 5th in the final, recording (11.11s) behind Romnick Nor from the University of Santo Tomas (UST), who clocked in at (11.02s). Ramos had a better performance last season when he had a final time of (11.07s).
The next event saw Captain Henry Gonzales compete in the pole vault alongside Mark Operario. Gonzales did not mark in the event, leaving Operario to salvage a winning performance for Ateneo on his own. High hopes were on the rookie, who finished 4th in the event with a distance of 3.40m, just 0.20m shy of the bronze.
The shotput was the next field event for the Blue Eagles, which sent rookies Miggy Austria, Carlo Ferrer, and Hughie Chua alongside fifth-year Gaspar Lorenzo into the fray. Lorenzo did not mark, which left the three others to put in respectable distances. Austria finished (11.3m) for 6th, Ferrer took 7th at (11.05m), and Chua recorded (10.14m) for 12th.
Lady Eagles
The Lady Eagles opened the day with the gruelling 5000m event that saw junior Sheila Patiño finish at 9th with a time of (32:09.07) minutes.
The 100m heats saw standout rookie Viah Mostoles and Captain Kim Zulueta compete in different heats, with Mostoles ranking 2nd in her heat at (12.81s) and 8th overall, while Zulueta ranking 3rd with (12.23s) in her heat and 3rd overall.
The two advanced to the finals where Mostoles took 8th with a (12.96s) finish. Zulueta, on the other hand, finished 3rd, clinching the bronze and the team’s only medal with a time of 12.39s, marginally higher than her 12.40s final finish last year.
The next event was the 800m, where rookie Marga Delos Reyes ranked 12th overall in the heat at (2:38.23), failing to secure a spot in the finals.
The women’s high jump was initially supposed to star Lady Eagles Brittina Canete, alongside Isabella Artuz and Kate Gohoc. However, Canete could not make it to the event, leaving the two rookies to compete without the veteran. Gohoc did not mark, leaving Artuz to rank 8th in the event with a distance of 1.40m.
Former Captain Vanessa Baguiwet competed in the hammer throw. After a strong performance, Baguiwet finished with a distance of 34.92m, ranking 6th overall.
“I achieved my personal best but it could have been better. My main focus now is on Friday because that’s my main event (Discus Throw),” Baguiwet said.
The highly anticipated women’s pole vault event ended with notable results from the team. Captain Kayla Yao was joined by the rookie Artuz and veterans Jia Kawachi and Martha Capistrano.
Artuz and Kawachi finished with a distance of 2.80m, both ranking 4th, while Capistrano and Yao followed with a shared distance of 2.60m. Considering that the record is held by their Coach Riezel Buenaventura, it is no surprise that their improvement on last year’s distances was evident.
“I’ll make sure next year, they’ll be in the top three rank,” said Coach Buenaventura.
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