UAAP S77 Men’s Track and Field Day 4 Recap & Results

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With Far Eastern University’s championship in the books coming into day 4, the team only had the individual awards left to conquer. With two of the top athletes in the league both coming from FEU, it was a toss-up between Sprint King Clinton Bautista and Multi-Event Champion Janry Ubas. Bautista had three gold medals and one silver medal heading into the final day of competition while his compatriot, Ubas, had three gold medals and one bronze medal so far. The two went head-to-head but as fate would have it, Ubas was crowned Most Valuable Player for the season. He went on to win the gold medal in the Pole Vault and claim silver in the High Jump.

The 4^th day proved to be exciting as FEU displayed their dominance against the rest of the pack with a staggering 479 points to win their 5^th straight crown. De La Salle University and University of Sto. Tomas duked it out until the end as the boys from Taft place 2^nd in a very competitive finish for the podium against both UST and University of the Philippines. DLSU won by a hair against UST, with both teams scoring 228 points and 226, respectively. UP came in 4^th with 202 points.

Most teams were already losing players left and right with all sorts of injuries from strained hamstrings, to shin splints, and the like, but this didn’t stop all teams from still going hard and trying to surpass their physical limits.

Track Events

UST made a heavy case for their fight for the podium finish with Dave Gumacal opening the day with a gold medal finish in the 5000m walk. Gumacal finished ahead of the rest of the pack with a time of 26:35.09 seconds, three minutes ahead of the 1^st runner-up. In an event where the slightest hint of an athlete running would merit an automatic warning, athletes have to be very wary of the way they “walk”. With this in all of the competitors’ minds, each time they were given a warning on their form, they had to adjust and this messed with the focus of some athletes but Gumacal, who incurred one warning early in the race, didn’t let up as he outlapped some of the other competitors. Coming in far 2^nd was FEU’s Jong Penetrado with a time of 29:46.73 seconds and rounding up the top three was Jethro Esposo from UP who clocked in with a time of 31:15.27 seconds.

With the reigning 2013 UAAP Champion for the 400m hurdles out with a strained hamstring, the absence of Patrick Sacro Unso was the window of opportunity that the other hurdlers were looking for. Looking to capitalize on Unso’s absence was 2013 1^st runner-up Gerard Morales from UST, who placed 2^nd in the elimination round behind his teammate Roque Lesondra. Coming in 3^rd in the heats was DLSU’s Nestly Tercero. The finals showcased the absence of the former champion as the gold medal was up for grabs this time. Morales finally won the elusive gold medal as he clocked in at 54.77 seconds and finished 0.61 seconds earlier than DLSU’s Tercero. Lesondra wasn’t far off from Tercero either as he finished with a time of 55.81 seconds to be awarded the bronze medal.

John Rey Moreno proved his win in the 3000m steeplechase wasn’t a fluke with another dominant showing in the 5000m run. The trackster from DLSU finished with a time of 16:08.38 seconds in a field that saw the top nine finish under the 17-minute mark. Moreno was the clear gold medal winner but the silver and bronze medals were tightly contested between UST teammates Kevin Capangpangan and Rustom Nava. The head-to-head finish in the last 100m treated the audience to a finish that separated the two competitors within 0.54 seconds from each other. It was Capangpangan that finished 1^st runner-up to Moreno and Nava claimed the bronze medal finish, his 2^nd medal for the whole competition.

In an injury-laden competition, Ateneo de Manila University stole the show against the heavyweights of the 4x400m relay by bagging the gold medal, their only medal for the whole competition, against a still very competitive field of sprinters. ADMU was not in the running after the 2^nd leg of the race, but the last two runners helped the boys in blue slowly make their way against the rest of their rivals. Anchor Luis De Jesus was able to sneak in from behind against UST’s Morales to win the photo finish. Miguel Guevarra, John Ruiz, and Jose Magturo rounded up the relay team of the first place finishers. ADMU finished with a time of 3:21.03 seconds while UST finished 0.17 seconds later. DLSU claimed the 3^rd place finish with a time of 3:21.43 seconds showing how tight the top three battle was.

Field Events

Ubas reminded the field of his dominance in the Decathlon with a 4.30m jump in the Men’s Pole Vault. Dubbed as the “MVP” even prior to winning the event, he jumped a 4.40m vault in the Men’s Decathlon but failed to top that performance with the 4.30m finish in the individual event. Coming in 2^nd was UP’s David Managuelod with a jump of 4.20m and his teammate, Robert Miguel Nasis, grabbed the bronze medal finish with a jump of 4.10m.

FEU continued to bag medals left and right throughout the day as the top two spots in the men’s High Jump were awarded to the tracksters from Morayta. Kieth Quilo beat his teammate and favorite Ubas as Quilo leaped for 1.95m. University of the East’s Jay-ar Tungcol finished with a jump of 1.90m but he incurred a foul in the lower heights which saw him place 3^rd despite jumping the same height as the multi-talented Ubas.

The Hammer Throw did not go fully in UP’s way as DLSU’s Matt Crespo spoiled an all-UP podium finish by throwing 42.77m. UP rounded up the top five as it was an all-UP dominance from the silver medal finish up until the 5^th spot in the top eight. Felix Camagay was the other thrower to reach the 40m mark with a heave of 40.11m. His teammates all threw at least 35m as Geoff Rodriguez, Anthony Matias, and Michael Baguisa threw 37.28, 36.20, and 35.65m respectively.

UP’s Baguisa wasn’t done for the day as he placed 2^nd to his teammate in the Discus Throw with a throw of 36.30m. His teammate and Discus Throw specialist, Elijah Guevarra, threw 37.05m to bag the gold medal. FEU’s Brayan-Jay Pacheco snagged the bronze medal finish with a throw of 35.20m but not far behind was DLSU’s Crespo with a throw of 34.68 that placed him 4^th overall. Pacheco, went on to be awarded the Rookie of The Year for the competition as he topped the Shot Put Throw, won the silver medal in the Javelin Throw, and snagged the bronze medal in the Discus Throw.

Final overall ranking

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