Blue Tracksters place just short of 2nd
"AT THE end of the day there were tears and there were smiles, sad smiles,” reminisced captain Alvin Reyes (IV AB Eco).
The Blue Tracksters, despite bucking the odds, had fallen short of their goal at the UAAP Season 70 Track and Field Tournament held February 7 to 10 at the Rizal Track Oval.
They had aimed to improve on their historic previous third place finish but fell short by 3.5 points for the coveted runner-up title to University of Santo Tomas.
The men's team capitalized on their favored events on opening day, as sprinters led the way to gain a slim margin for second place behind runaway champs Far Eastern University.
Bryan Sutingco (III BS Bio) garnered a silver in the 100m to highlight the strong showing by the Ateneo sprinters to hold the 6 point cushion over UST.
On the second day of competition, the Tracksters held off UST for the second spot with a two point margin. This came as a surprise to everyone since the day contained UST's forte of distance events, but Ateneo still proved resilient.
Mike Mendoza (II BS Bio) produced Ateneo's first gold of the competition in the 110m high hurdles while Sutingco was the first Atenean ever to qualify for the 200m dash finals, where he tallied a bronze.
On the third day, the Ateneo throwers showed their mettle as they were able to build the Ateneo lead to as much as 10 points. Nic Hey (II AB Eu) finished first and second in the shot put and hammer throw respectively while Reyes finished with a bronze in the shot put.
However, UST closed the gap and soon gained a four point lead. UST used its advantage in having more athletes at their disposal in the competitions.
"The story of the [third] day was we dominated our strong events while UST dominated theirs,” said Reyes.
The last tourney day featured a close battle between both teams.
UST widened the gap by taking advantage, having more competitors in the long and high jump events. But Ateneo wouldn't let UST run away as Charles Bañez (II AB MEco) and Itunu Kuku (II AB DS) claimed bronzes in the long and high jump respectively.
Ateneo continued to cut away at the lead as Mendoza, Sutingco, Bañez, and Ian Marchadesch (V BFA ID) took second place honors in the 4x100 meter Relay. Zek Valera (II BS HSc) contributed a silver from the pole vault event.
The day's last event proved suspenseful as Ateneo came into it with the chance to overtake UST for second place if they took a full top three finish in the discus. But Geoff Reyes (II AB MEco) and Alvin Reyes could only gain the silver and bronze medals from the event, and UST took overall runner up spot by only 3.5 points. Reyes also took the shot put bronze.
Lady Tracksters settle for last
The Lady Tracksters, who aimed to continue on their annual improvement by reaching the middle of the pack or even third place, fell to last place at the end of the four-day meet.
The Lady Tracksters refused to be shutout in the medal tally as Karla Lim (III BS Mgt), Maita Mendoza (II BS CTM), Marla Santos (II BS MIS) and Anj Aquino (I AB Eco) took the 4x100 relay bronze in the tournament's last day.
"We knew it would be hard to have a good overall placing having only 12 athletes when we should have a roster of 23,” said captain Frankie Patajo (IV AB MEco). "So we all tried to improve on our personal bests which we did.”
Nonetheless, program head Misael Perez ultimately pointed out: "We have a young team and good foundation for years to come.”
"We have to improve our distance running program and to get more jumps training and facilities in the system,” he added. Perez believes Ateneo will continue to show heart, and match up to superior programs and may be ready to challenge FEU and its nationals for the overall title next year.