Another remarkable performance of last season’s Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player Jan Jodilyn Fronda backed by her teammates earned the DLSU Lady Woodpushers its consecutive championship and fourth over-all title.
The young Green Woodpushers maintained a tight grip at fourth place in the UAAP Season 74 Chess Championships last February 6 at the FEU Technology Building.
The Taft-based Woodpushers ended the last day of the tournament with double victory through a contested 2.5 – 1.5 victory of the Green Woodpushers against season’s 2nd placers UST, and a decisive 3.5 – 0.5 domination of their female counterparts over Ateneo De Manila University.
Back-to-back championship and more
The Ladies in Green-and-White successfully defended their crown, accumulating 42 points with an astounding record of 12 wins, one draw and one loss.
It is a far cry from first runner-up UP with 31.5 and Ateneo at third with 30 points.
Sophomore Fronda copped the back-to-back MVP trophy and the gold medal for individual records at Board 3 via 11 wins and two draws.
“Nagpapasalamat ako kilacoach. Kasi kung hindi dahil sa kanila, hindi ako nag-MVP [at] hindi kami nagchampion. Wala ako. (I am thankful to my coaches. If it were not for them, I would not be the MVP, and we would not have won the title. I would be nothing),” WNM Fronda shared.
Following her feat were Judith Pineda and Akiko Suede. Both capped 66.7 winning percentages to obtain gold medals at Boards 2 and 5 five respectively.
Former MVP Aices Salvador pegged at Board 1 and rookie standout Cherry Ann Mejia at Board 4 settled for silver medals.
The championship title was also a parting gift for fifth year player Aices Salvador who helped them nab the 2009 and 2011 championships.
Getting there, slowly but surely
“Nakita ko yung heart (I saw the heart of the team). Still, [fourth place was] a good finish,” Green Woodpushers mentor Randy Segarra shared.
A team composed of two rookies, a sophomore and a veteran in the top four boards managed to push the Green-and-White squad from the bottom to the upper half of the standings with a 7-1-6 win-draw-loss card.
La Salle Green Hills product Jan Nigel Galan was adjudged as the Rookie of the Year behind a 67 winning percentage and the Board 5 gold medal.
Fellow rookie Aglipay 8 Oberio notched a 60.7% win while sophomore Franz Robert Grafil snatched the silver honors at Board 4.
“Kahit papaano masasabi ko satisfied ako sa performance, hindi ko inexpect na aabot ng ganito, (All I can say is that that I am satisfied with the team’s performance, I did not expected us to reach fourth],” Segarra added.
