ED Deliña clinched a third consecutive gold in the men’s discus throw, setting a new UAAP record of 47.28 meters as University of the Philippines maintained its slight lead at the close of Day 4 of the UAAP Season 86 Men’s Athletics Championships on Saturday night at the PhilSports Track Oval in Pasig City.
The 24-year-old native of Zambales narrowly defeated National University’s Joshua Melgar, who also surpassed Deliña’s previous record of 44.97 meters set last season at the same venue, finishing with 47.16 meters. Adamson University’s Daniel Rambacal secured a distant third place with 41.44 meters.
“Actually, nahirapan ako kasi ang dami kong events. Ang in-expect kong mag-record ako is sa shotput. Well, na-break ko naman ‘yung shotput (record), pero 10 minutes lang tumagal. Hindi ko inaasahan din ‘tong discus na makukuha ko,” said Deliña.
“Masaya kasi nakuha ko ‘yung record. Siguro naging motivation ko talaga, yung iniisip ko habang nasa loob ako ng circle is ‘yung silver medal. Hindi ako nakatulog sa silver medal sa shotput na ‘yun. Sabi ko sa coaches ko, ‘Hindi ako nagse-settle sa silver.’ Kaya ‘yun ang naging inspiration ko,” added the masters student-athlete.
UP will enter the final day with a 245-240 edge over NU while FEU (171), Adamson (143), and UE (129) will duke it out for bronze.
On the other hand, Alhryan Labita strengthened his claim for a back-to-back MVP award with another outstanding performance, this time in the 400-meter hurdles.
The San Beda High School product crossed the line at 53.91, ahead of Bulldog Van Alexander Obejas and Far Eastern University Tamaraw Samuel Pedral Jr., who finished with times of 54.20 and 54.21, respectively.
Team captain Germar Marcelo added a silver in the 1500 meters, maintaining UP’s lead heading into the final day with 245 points against NU’s 240.5, pending the results of the 5000m walk.
However, it was in the same event that the Bulldogs made their move against the Fighting Maroons, as Erwin Mancao’s 4:03.43 and Michael Karl Gomez’s 4:07.95 flanked Marcelo’s 4:07.45 in a 1-3 finish.
FEU moved ahead of Adamson to the third spot with the day’s other gold.
Ernie Calipay established a new UAAP record, dominating the high jump with a height of 2.05 meters, a mere centimeter higher than the Season 77 mark set by Janry Ubas, a former Tamaraw. Red Warrior Lorenz Sediarin and Bulldog Alberto Ubando completed the podium after emerging from a quadruple tie at 1.85 on countback.
Meanwhile, Bernalyn Bejoy captured another gold, leading De La Salle University’s finishing push on the women’s side against nearest pursuers FEU and University of Santo Tomas.
The national team upstart claimed the 400-meter hurdles title, nearly breaking the one-minute barrier at 1:00.49. Lenlyn Sanita of NU, who finished third in the 400m straight, took the silver with 1:03.46, while Josie Inemedo of UP rounded out the top three with 1:04.13.
The Lady Green Tracksters opened a comfortable 51-point gap against the FEU Lady Tamaraws (271 to 220), even as the UST Lady Tracksters (208) inched closer to the latter.
Thomasians Jamela De Asis and Jeanne Arnibal spearheaded that last-ditch effort from the defending champions.
De Asis broke her own record of 12.91 meters set last season by pushing it a little farther to 12.94 meters, giving the Female Tracksters their first gold of the day. Daniela Daynata of De La Salle took the silver with 12.67 meters, while Mary Jean Maloloy-On of FEU snagged the bronze with 11.47.
Arnibal sealed the heptathlon crown, finishing second in the long jump and the javelin before securing a time of 2:43.60 in the 800, enough to give her 4,195 points over the 3,872 points of FEU’s Antonette Aguilon. DLSU’s Micca Cabadu ended with the bronze with 3,785.
University of the East’s Remalie Magallanes secured the other gold in the women’s side with a 38:29.31-minute finish in the 10,000 meters. UP’s Mea Gey Ninura followed with 38:57.57 for the silver, while NU’s Jessa Mae Roda came in with 40:02.07.
The titles are still up for grabs as all the teams look to finish strong on Sunday’s fifth and final day of the championships, beginning at 1 p.m.
