UAAP Season 77 Women’s Track and Field Day 1 Recap

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Stars were born, records were set, and immortals were brought down. Day one of the 77^th installment of the UAAP Track and Field Championships was already jam-packed with a lot of action.

Track Events

In the sprint events, the 100m dash showcased a highly competitive field even during the qualifying round. This event saw the three-year defending women’s 100m dash champion Jennryrose Rosales of the UE set a new UAAP Fully Automated Timing (FAT) record of 11.90 seconds, breaking her own record of 12.40 seconds set in season 75. Rosales became the first ever woman in UAAP history to break the 12-second barrier.

Other competitors in the 100m dash such as Eloiza Luzon, Glaiza Salcedo, and Michelle Loterte, who all hail from UST were also showing signs of bringing down the great Rosales herself.

An hour and a half later, a familiar face appeared before the crowd during the qualifying rounds of the women’s 800m. It was Jennyrose Rosales of UE once again stepping up to the women’s middle distance category to try and extend her gold medal count and point contribution to her team. She didn’t fail to deliver as she ranked first in the qualifying round with a time of 2:14.51 which faster than her 800m veteran competitors. The finals of the 800m will be on day two of the competition.

Another qualifying round in the women’s division during the afternoon session was the 100m hurdles. UST’s Michelle Loterte dominated the event clocking 14.83 seconds which was well over an eighth of a second faster than the second place qualifier Marianne Audrey Yorac of the University of the Philippines who clocked 15.41 seconds. The highly contested qualifying round of the women’s 100m hurdles ended the afternoon session of the competition.

The 12-lap 5000m racewalk was the first event of the evening session. The event was unpredictable from the beginning until around the last three laps as the lead pack was in strong unison. It only became clear who were in it for the medal contention around the last 3 laps. Marygene Dagasdas and Edry-Anne Diaz of UE broke away from the pack and won gold and silver with a time of 29:13.04 and 29:15.83 respectively. They were well ahead of bronze medalist Krisha Sardenia of UST who tried to stay close to them during the race but managed to finish with a time of 29:41.78 which is still a fast time. The top three finishers of the event were the only athletes who clocked a sub-30 minute for the event.

The finals of the 100m dash had Jennyrose Rosales as the top seed in everybody’s mind. Come the last 30 meters of the century dash, Rosales started fading away and the three UST women – Luzon, Salcedo, and Loterte – pulled away and gave their school a gold-silver-bronze finish with 12.10, 12.35, and 12.43 seconds as their times respectively. Rosales finished fourth with a time of 12.53 seconds which was way slower than her qualifying UAAP record time. The amazing UST finish ended Rosales’ three-year reign in the women’s 100m dash.

Another major upset was evident in the women’s 100m hurdles as the top seed Michelle Loterte of UST crashed by the fifth of sixth hurdle, giving a clear way for the De La Salle University’s (DLSU) Judy Ann Rendora and the University of the Philippine’s (UP) Marianne Audrey Yorac to battle their way for gold. Both hurdlers finished with a time of 15.19 seconds apiece but with Rendora being given the gold because of the photo finish review. Katherine Costan of UST finished third with a time of 15.19 while her top seeded compatriot Loterte finished last with a time of 19.98 seconds.

Field Events

The High Jump event also had a highly contested field as the top three finishers’ results were all close to each other. Angelica Janda of Far Eastern University (FEU) jumped 1.65m to win the gold while Maureen Schrijvers of De La Salle University and Kristie Kaye Vinco of FEU both finished with a height of 1.60m. Schrijvers was awarded the silver medal as she committed less fouls than Vinco.

The women’s hammer throw was the only throwing event for the women for day one. UST finished with a massive 1-2-3-4 place haul. Cristelle Jane Ferrera led UST’s rally for the massive win with a throw of 35.76m to win the gold. Schoolmate Aira Teodosio came short of beating Ferrera with her throw of 35.16m which was still good for a silver medal finish. Riza Faith Sombilia and Jessah Mae Fernandez finished third and fourth with throws of 33.55m and 32.88m respectively.

Medal Tally

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