UNIVERSITY of the Philippines surged into the lead in the men’s division at the conclusion of Day 2 of the UAAP Season 86 Athletics championships on Thursday night at the PhilSports Track Oval in Pasig City.
The three-peat-seeking Fighting Maroons overtook National University for the lead with 116, all thanks to reigning MVP Alhryan Labita.
The Bulldogs dropped to second with 107.
Labita led the way for the UP after bagging his second straight gold of the season in the 200 meters in yet another new record of 21.42 seconds. The said mark was 0.01 faster than De La Salle star Ralph Soguilon’s Season 67 record.
“It feels unreal pa rin po kasi I wasn’t expecting na mag-break ako ng mga records this season. Kaya sobrang gulat pa rin ako until now,” the second-year Fighting Maroons standout said.
Adamson University rookie Kent Francis Jardin took the silver with 21.84, while National University’s Orly Orongan captured the bronze with 21.97.
Clint Niño Neri added the other gold for UP with a 7.36-meter leap in the long jump, upgrading his silver from last season. Edgie Garbin of University of the East and Jardin completed the podium with 7.22 and 7.10 meters, respectively.
Two silvers from Josh Buenavista in the 10,000 meters and Peter Lachica from the 10,000-meter walk bolstered the Fighting Maroons’ charge for the day.
“Wala naman pong bago. We just did what we have to do at hindi naman po namin iniisip ‘yung standings,” Labita added.
University of the East rose to third place with 84 points after taking the golds in the aforementioned distance races.
Red Warrior Vincent Dela Cruz set a new UAAP record in the 10,000-meter walk with a time of 49:33.97, breaking the old mark of Bulldog John Aaron Arandia of 50:19.20 set last season.
Lachica captured the silver for the Fighting Maroons with 51:08.11 and Mark Estoya clinched the bronze for the Far Eastern University Tamaraws with 51:14.57, as Arandia was disqualified for breaking the race rules.
James Orduña remained the king of the 10,000 meters with 32:15.60 minutes, keeping Buenavista at bay with 33:09.28. UP’s Roy Laudit ended third in the race with 33:29.87.
Hockett Delos Santos took the other gold of the day for University of Santo Tomas with a new UAAP record to boot in the men’s decathlon.
The 31st Southeast Asian Games silver medalist in the pole vault, used a strong 4.80-meter clearance in the said event to virtually seal the title in the two-day event and, eventually, boosted his total to a new league standard of 6,739.
The result was 200 points higher than national team standout Janry Ubas’ 6,529 set in Season 77 when he played for FEU.
De La Salle, meanwhile, seized the women’s lead from FEU at 132-120, despite the second-day golden rush from UST.
Lianne Pama paced the UST Female Tracksters with a new UAAP record of 24.16 seconds in the 200 meters, breaking her own mark of 24.35 set last season. Lady Green Tracksters Jessel Lumapas and Bernalyn Bejoy finished second and third with 24.76 and 24.88 seconds, respectively.
The situation was the same in the javelin throw as UST’s Lanie Carpentero’s 45.06 meters for the title was followed by two De La Salle standouts, Ann Quitoy with 40.23 meters and Daniela Daynata with 40.07.
Another gold from the Female Tracksters in the triple jump with Jeanne Arnibal at 12.28 meters was backstopped by another Lady Green Trackster in Abcd Agamanos with 12.16. FEU’s Rica Balderama completed the podium in the said event with 11.88 meters.
Last year’s top rookie Abegail Manzano took the other gold of the day — the lone gold for UP — in the 5,000 meters. The Fighting Maroon crossed the line at 18:21.17 minutes, way ahead of second-placed UE’s Remale Magallanes at 18:40.63. FEU’s Jonna Agbutas’ bronze in the race with 19:15.09 helped keep the Lady Tamaraws in the top two of the championships.
The third day of action happens on Friday starting at 1 p.m., with the women taking the spotlight in the first four events of the heptathlon.
