The University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons tried to increase their advantage over the rest of the field in Day 2 of the championships, and in the end, did well enough to keep the lead.
Still, the Far Eastern University Tamaraws and the National University Bulldogs made strides in their chase of the league-leaders in a heated battle on the pit.
The Tamaraws also had the pennant event – the decathlon – to thank, as the Diliman-based side opted to skip the event.
Maroons take ownership of the track
The top guns of the current season made their moves in the two events on the track – the 10000 meter and 200 meter – to take the spotlight.
Despite not getting golds in the day, the Fighting Maroons got enough points to retain the lead.
Rookie runner Germar Marcelo picked up the bronze in the league’s longest track event after a 33:57.50 run. James Orduna of the University of the East ran away with the gold at 32:57.47, as FEU’s Evelou Abutas ended with the silver with 33:42.23.
Jomar Udtohan then finished with the silver in the afternoon’s 200 meter dash, coming out of the gates of lane 8. The 100 m gold medalist fought toe-to-toe against Joyme Sequita of Adamson, but came up short by just 0.01.
Graduating UP senior Jaime Mejia claimed bronze after a 22.40 run.
Such performances put UP on top at the end of the day at 128 points.
FEU, NU leapfrog past competition
The Tamaraws and the Bulldogs pushed aside the field in the long jump event to eat up the Maroons’ lead and pull away for third place, respectively.
NU claimed their second gold of the year, as Karl Aquino topped the discipline with a huge 7.20 m leap, 190 cm off the record of FEU’s Janry Ubas at 7.39. Senior Kirk Bacas of FEU ended at silver with a jump of 6.94 m, while Bulldog Jay Mark Gascon had 6.90 for the bronze.
Jovanie Kasi leads tight road to decathlon gold
The Tamaraws had been lording the decathlon event in the league in recent years, after UP barged in with a breakthrough gold courtesy of Javier Luis Gomez.
Jovanie Kasi is currently trying to follow in the footsteps of Jeson Cid and Janry Ubas, and he was five events on track. The Tamaraw leads with 3194 points after taking the first place in all the events of the day: 100 m, long jump, shot put, high jump, and 400 m.
His senior Bacas was impressive in performing well in two events, turning in a close 3163 after a silver in the separate long jump event. On the other hand, Ateneo’s Henry Gonzales was not far at third at 3109.
Unofficial Points Tally after Day 2
UP 128
FEU 97
NU 63
UE 32
ADMU 25
DLSU 25
AdU 20
