THE ATENEO Track and Field Teams commenced their University Athletic Association of the Philippines Season 87 stint with an exemplary performance after achieving one gold medal. The tournament took place earlier today at the New Clark City Athletics Stadium in Capas, Tarlac.

With a whopping 25 points on opening day, the Men’s Team has already exceeded its entire 16.5-point output from last season and currently sits at fourth place in the overall standings. Moreover, rookie Hassan Loraña clinched the squad’s first medal in the post-pandemic era, along with bagging their first gold medal since Season 80 in 2018.

Meanwhile, the Women’s Team remains on the search for their first point following today’s events.

100m

Beginning with the Women’s 100m event, Krisha Aguillon and Kat Duavit entered the oval in the first and second heat, respectively. Rookie hotshot Aguillon matched the pace of her competitors at the 50-meter mark, eventually clocking in at 12.71 seconds to place fourth in the heat and tenth overall.

The three-time Palarong Pambansa champion was only .05 milliseconds shy from the eighth qualifier for the finals while Duavit crossed the finish line eighth in her heat with a time of 14.96 seconds.

In the Men’s Division, Deyo Chung was the lone representative of the Blue and White, situated on lane two. The Blue Eagle ended the event at 12.30 seconds, finishing eighth in his heat.

800m

In Ateneo’s lone distance event of the day, Loraña pulled through for the Blue and White in the 800m heats. The youth national team athlete started off blazing fast, placing himself second among the pack at the 400-meter mark. In the race’s final stretch, the Blue Eagle overtook National University’s John Lloyd Cabalo and slotted in an impressive time of 1:53.99, which placed Loraña first overall.

As his successful stint in the heat qualified him to the finals, Loraña came up huge for the Blue Eagles, with a triumphant feat in sight. The rookie’s push in the latter half of the race proved to be the deciding factor in his win. His time of 1:53.17 was just enough to capture the elusive gold medal that the Ateneo Men’s Team has been waiting for six long years.

Shot Put

Representing Ateneo for the shot put were Airex Villanueva, Doy Costelo, and Russel Ricaforte. With all three having performed well in the recently-concluded PATAFA Finals, the trio were expected to bring glory to the Blue and White.

The trio managed to reach expectations after gathering much-needed points for the Blue Eagles. Former Ateneo High School standout Costelo just fell short of securing points, with his best throw being at 10.42 meters.

On the other hand, Ricaforte and Villanueva reached the top eight, which automatically clinched points for the Katipunan-based squad. With Ricaforte throwing 12.68 meters and Villanueva finishing with a mark of 12.51 meters, the duo finished in fifth and sixth, respectively, copping 10 points for the Blue and White.

Leaving the oval already with a gold medal to bring home to Loyola Heights, the Ateneo track stars return to the field in pursuit of securing more accolades tomorrow, November 18, at 7:45 AM in the same venue.

Men’s Standings – Points (Gold-Silver-Bronze Medals):

1. UST Tiger Tracksters – 75 (2-2-1)
2. UP Fighting Maroons – 44 (1-1-1)
3. FEU Tamaraws – 33 (0-0-1)
4. ATENEO Blue Eagles – 25 (1-0-0)
5. NU Bulldogs – 25 (0-1-0)
6. AdU Soaring Falcons – 18 (0-0-1)
7. UE Red Warriors – 12 (0-0-0)
8. DLSU Green Tracksters – 0 (0-0-0)

Women’s Standings – Points (Gold-Silver-Bronze Medals):

1. FEU Tamaraws – 87 (1-2-2)
2. UP Fighting Maroons – 78 (1-2-2)
3. UST Lady Tracksters – 73 (3-0-1)
4. DLSU Lady Tracksters – 35 (1-0-1)
5. UE Lady Warriors – 28 (0-1-0)
6. NU Lady Bulldogs – 14 (0-1-0)
7. AdU Lady Falcons – 12 (0-0-0)
8. ATENEO Blue Eagles – 0 (0-0-0)