Hussein Loraña continued his impressive UAAP debut by setting another new league record and leading Adamson University’s pursuit of back-to-back titles in the UAAP Season 86 Athletics championships on Friday at the PhilSports Track Oval in Pasig City.
The 18-year-old reset the record in the boys’ 400 meters to 49.12 seconds, shaving off a few ticks from University of the Philippines Integrated School’s Jaime Mejia, who posted 49.46 in Season 76 at De La Salle Dasmariñas.
This marks the third gold for Loraña, who earlier secured the 800-meter title and was part of the inaugural mixed 4×100 high school champions, in addition to a bronze in the 200 meters.
The Apolinario Mabini Elementary School product ushered in another dominant day for the Baby Falcons, who finished with a whopping 343.5 points, far ahead of second-placed University of Santo Tomas with 182 points and two more days left.
Kurt David Ragudos clinched another individual title for the reigning champions with a 1.75-meter leap in the high jump, surpassing UST’s Harvey Villasan and UE’s Romel Cadorna, who finished in second and third, respectively, by five centimeters.
The Baby Falcons John Dave Tumangan, Emanuel Morales, Matthew Angeles, and Janzen Dela Cruz concluded the exhilarating third day with a new UAAP record of 42.91 seconds in the 4×100-meter relay. This result erased the 43.81 set by University of Santo Tomas quarter five years ago in Season 81.
UST and UE each secured a gold in the 3000m walk and the javelin throw, respectively.
Gabriel Cervantes showcased the Junior Male Tracksters’ prowess in racewalk with a gold in the 3000m, finishing in 15:00.41, well ahead of Baby Falcon Gian Carlo Cunanan’s 15:26.69. Vincent Durana of the Junior Red Warriors secured a distant third with 17:03.15.
Windale Simba added to UE’s gold tally with a 50.13-meter throw in the javelin, surpassing Adamson’s Jhay Tica and UST’s Kurby Arca, who recorded 48.46 and 46.05 meters, respectively.
In contrast, the UST Junior Female Tracksters maintained the lead against the UE Junior Lady Warriors in a tighter race for the championship, with UST leading at 291 points against UE’s 264.
The two squads shared the four individual golds at stake in the day, but the reigning champion UST made a bigger impact with another podium sweep, this time in the 400 meters.
Lea Ordinario led the charge with a sub-minute finish of 59.73 seconds for the gold, while teammates Jamaica Saligan and Ashley Tabad followed with times of 1:00.45 and 1:00.68, respectively.
The other individual gold came from Faith Burdeos, who halted UE’s Jazen Araño’s gold-medal run with a 36.76-meter throw in the discus. The double-champion Araño finished in fifth place, while Rechelle Barbin of Adamson and Heart Duarte of UE claimed silver and bronze with throws of 34.98 and 34.14 meters, respectively.
The Junior Lady Warriors’ golds came from Mhar Anne Monsada in the triple jump with 11.07 meters and from Jyzel Gabriel in the 1500 meters with a time of 5:17.62.
Desiree Narido finished third for UE in the triple jump with 10.89 meters, while UST’s Jamaica Saligan secured the silver with 10.95 meters. Janice Nemi, also from UE, finished second behind Gabriel in the 1500m with a time of 5:18.16, as UST’s Lyka Raterta ended third with 5:19.57.
The day, however, truly belonged to the Junior Female Tracksters as the quartet in the 4×100-meter relay wrapped up the day with the gold in 49.83 seconds, with individual 100-meter champion Iza Pangilinan closing it out. Lyka Miravalles opened the race strong before Tabad and Ordinario set up the Pangilinan finish.
The Lady Baby Falcons secured the silver with a time of 51.76 seconds, while the Junior Lady Warriors bagged the bronze with 52.19.
Adamson and UST will look to solidify their hold on the boys’ and girls’ divisions, respectively, as the penultimate day begins at 1 p.m. on Saturday at the same Pasig venue.
