ALEXA Larrazabal made a remarkable debut in the UAAP, spearheading a strong showing by three junior national team standouts who secured wins for their respective squads in the ongoing UAAP Season 87 Fencing Championships, Tuesday at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum in Malate, Manila.
The University of Santo Tomas freshman kept her squad at the top of the leaderboard, following Jannah Catantan’s earlier title in women’s foil with a commanding 15-10 victory over University of the East’s Andrea Matias in the gold medal match of women’s epee.
“Wow, so many people supported me; and I’m so happy that it’s my first year, and I did not expect to get number one at all. I would like to thank Coach Arman (Bernal); he was there the whole competition, coaching me by my side. There are so many coaches that I would like to thank, and you’re all very important to me,” said Larrazabal, a fellow native of Ormoc City like former back-to-back event champion Juliana Gomez.
Still beaming from Catantan’s foil triumph the day before, Larrazabal added, “I’m so happy (for her), and I’m so glad to be teammates with ate Yssah; she’s a good fencer. And I’m also happy that I was able to give another gold medal to UST.”
With back-to-back golds from Catantan and Larrazabal, the UST Female Fencers solidified their hold on the top spot after two events. The University of the Philippines (0-1-2) followed in second place after Juliana Ballesteros clinched a bronze in epee. De La Salle University’s Cyrra Vergara also secured a bronze in the same event.
Reigning champion UE kept in step with Matias’ silver to go up to third place with a 0-1-1 medal tally.
(C) UAAP Season 87 Media Team
On the other hand, James Lim fuelled UE’s 13th straight championship drive in the boys’ division after taking a dominant 15-7 victory in the final of the foil event over UST’s Rayne Maravilla.
Following Bryn Gale’s gold in epee and the 1-2 finish of Khiane Felipe and Lim in sabre, UE’s historic championship streak—the longest active run in the league—remains firmly intact.
“Sobrang importante po na nakuha ko ‘yung gold na ‘to kasi makakatulong po ‘to para mag-champion po uli kami. We hope na yung girls’, men’s, and women’s teams makuha din po nila ‘yung championship,” said Lim, last season’s UAAP 85 MVP.
“Masaya po kami na nakuha namin ‘yung golds sa epee, foil, and sabre. Hopefully, makuha pa rin sa Thursday and Friday ‘yung teams. Kasi ‘yung goal namin is a pa-13-peat kami, kaya gusto namin talagang kunin ‘yung championship. Less pressure na lang rin siguro dahil nakuha na namin ‘yung tatlong golds sa individual,” he added.
(C) UAAP Season 87 Media Team
Over in the girls’ division, UST’s Liah Gillian secured the squad’s first gold by edging teammate Kathleen Tuy, 15-14, in an all-UST final. The Junior Female Fencers soared into the overall lead after two events.
Gillian earlier defeated reigning MVP Opao Catantan in the semifinals, 15-10, while Tuy overcame UE’s Nicol Canlas, 15-14, in the other semifinal bracket to complete the 1-2 finish for UST.
“Actually, in-expect ko naman po kasi sa sabre, malakas naman kami, and ever since we’ve been conditioning ourselves, putting our minds and thoughts in this. Proud na proud rin kami na nakabawi na kami and maganda rin naman ‘yung performance namin. Hopefully, we will see it din in the future competitions,” said Gillian, a rising talent from the national team.
Catantan and Canlas took home the bronze medals in girls’ sabre, while UST’s Angel Aberilla and Ateneo’s Derek Perez secured bronze medals in boys’ foil.
