UAAP Men’s Track and Field Day 2: Bautista goes 2-of-2; Ubas sets new record

The University of Santo Tomas led the medal tally coming into day two of competition with 4 medals in total, followed by the Far Eastern University.

De La Salle University and University of the Philippines tail behind with two medals each. FEU may have a hard time pulling away from the competition easily when these other three universities are well behind their tail.

Bautista Goes for Two!

Recently crowned 100m champion Clinton Kingsley Bautista of the FEU asserted his sprinting dominance yet again in the qualifying round with a relaxed 200m sprint of 22.20 seconds.

Tailing behind Bautista was Jaime Immanuel Mejia of the University of the Philippines with a time of 22.48 seconds, 0.28 seconds behind Bautista. A close third to Mejia were the defending 400m champion Michael Del Prado from De La Salle University who clocked 22.51 seconds, and recently-crowned 100m silver medalist William Galceran of FEU, who clocked 22.57 seconds. Coming in at fifth was DLSU’s John Kenneth Nodos, who clocked 22.61 seconds.

The finals was Bautista’s to lose. It was not to be, however, as he clocked 22.12 seconds to win the 200m dash well ahead of the pack.

Bautista was far ahead, with over a 0.35-second lead over silver place finisher Nodos of DLSU, who clocked 22.47 seconds. Teammate and defending 400m champion Del Prado was just behind Nodos, winning the bronze with a time of 22.50 seconds.

Mejia and Galceran, who clocked 22.52 and 22.60 seconds, and placed fourth and fifth respectively, fell short to the two DLSU sprinters who managed to snag the podium finish behind Bautista

Ubas Delivers, FEU Dominates

FEU sent shockwaves in the competition after their team managed to place first, second, third, and fourth in the long jump event.

Janry Ubas, defending decathlon champion, led the way with a massive jump of 7.39m, setting a new UAAP record in the process. Ubas was the only jumper among the finalists who managed to jump above 7.0m.

Teammates Kirk Bacas and the recently crowned 100m and 200m champion Bautista followed suit. Both jumpers recorded a 6.71m jump, with Bacas earning silver because he had less fouls than Bautista. Finishing the quartet was Rolly Tolentino, with an impressive 6.54m jump.

For the 10,000m run, the pace was maintained during the first half of the grueling 25-lap. The pack leading the way were FEU’s Earl Casinabre, UE’s Reynold Villafranca, UST’s Kevin Capangpangan, and DLSU’s Erwin Parcon.

Villafranca and Casinabre were exchanging the position of pack leader for most of the race, with Casinabre eventually managing to break free from the pack.

The pack that initially broke away became the eventual top finishers. Casinabre of FEU won with a time of 33:38.56, while Villafranca of UE takes the silver with 33:54.40. UST’s Capangpangan settles for the bronze medal with 34:06.65.

The other distance event for the day was the 10,000m walk. No FEU walkers were in sight in the podium finish, which the other schools sought to capitalize on.

Leading all the way, from start to finish, was defending champion Lambert Padua of UST. Padua clocked a comfortable 52:59.35 to win the gold medal.

Around three minutes away from Padua was Edwin Verdera, Jr., of University of the East, who clocked 55:13.06. Following Verdera was Jethro Esposo of UP, who was three minutes away from Verdera with a time of 58:24.97.

UAAP Season 79 Men’s Track and Field Medal Tally Day 2