THE ATENEO Rifle Pistol Team’s (ARPT) sharpshooters seized the spotlight in the Metallic Silhouette (MS) Air Pistol contest at the 46th Southeast Asian Shooting Association Shooting Championships – Philippine Open 2024, outshining the Philippine National Team.
The MS event was held on December 2, 2024, at the Marine Corps Training Center in the City of Taguig.
Leading the charge for the Michael Go-coached squad, Team Captain Krizza Reymon dominated the individual category, securing 35 out of 40 points en route to a gold-plated finish. This result came off bagging seven on turkey, eight on chicken, a perfect ram, and a perfect boar.
Meanwhile, Adrian Justin Cabrera and Robert Allan Juan notched 21 and 19 points respectively for the Katipunan-based squad.
In total, the Blue and White triumvirate accumulated a whopping 87 points to take home the gold medal for the team category—seven points ahead of the National Team’s representatives, who combined scored a respectable 80.
Following the collegiate crew, Ateneo alumni Michael Go, Marie Ellenore Go, and Jeffrey Jongko soared to an impressive bronze finish in the same event, completing the ARPT’s tournament reign with finesse.
In an interview with The GUIDON Sports, Reymon expressed their surprise and satisfaction at their impressive showing. “Outperforming the national team, I really can’t imagine, honestly. I never thought na I can. Nandun ako sa mindset na I’ll just do my best, katulad nga nung sinabi ni coach,” the team captain shared.
(I never thought I could. My mindset during the competition was to do my best, just as coach said.)
According to the rifle pistol star, hitting 34 already felt like a “dream,” so reaching 35 was beyond her wildest imaginations, especially since she had only scored a 31 in the competition’s official practice.
Reymon thanked all her teammates, coaches, sponsors, ARPT, and her parents for the win, as all the practice and support prior to the event unlocked the team’s full potential.
“It’s all those efforts, all the investment sa time and energy. That belief sa amin at talagang pagpupursigi na ma-train kami, paid off and it showed sa performance namin,” the Atenean skipper said.
(That belief in us and pursuit in training us paid off, and it showed in our performance.)
“Like how coach always says, ‘the competition should just be a reflection of your preparation, of your training.’ So it’s like, you’re training now, so [in the] competition, you’re just gonna show what you trained for. And then, the results will speak for themselves,” Reymon added.
