After five days of intense competition, the Green Tracksters retained their place on the podium, finishing in third place. Unfortunately for the Lady Tracksters, it was a disappointing outcome as their attempt to maintain their standing or improve their place failed; dropping from last year’s fourth place finish to this year’s sixth.
This year, the FEU Tamaraws claimed their seventh consecutive win in the men’s division, while the UST Golden Tigresses obtained their fourth consecutive victory in the women’s event.
Rollercoaster start
On the opening day, the first event for the season was the Pole Vault, where the Green Tracksters’ Francis Obiena was able to set the bar high for DLSU—garnering the first gold of the day. In Shot Put, DLSU’s Kenneth Rafanan managed to place second, edged only by UP’s Fel Quitelio. Green Tracksters Michael del Prado and Erwin Parcon then managed to boost DLSU’s points in the last event of the day by placing second and first, respectively. Unfortunately, the Lady Tracksters did not participate in any of the events of day one, putting them in last place.
The second day of the Athletics competition began on a sad note. The events of the day were the 10,000-meter dash, the 200-meter dash, and Long Jump, where the Green Tracksters failed to place in any of the said events, garnering only 14 points for the day. On the other hand, the Lady Tracksters also began their season in a attempt to catch up with the other schools, but only garnered 15 points from the Triple Jump. The second day left the Green Tracksters in second, behind FEU, while the Lady Tracksters remained in last place.
Looking to bounce back, Joshua Patalud managed to claim the first gold of the day in the Javelin Throw. In the 3000-meter Steeplechase, Green Trackster John Rey Moreno claimed another gold for DLSU and in the final event, the 400-meter dash, Del Prado claimed his first gold of the season.
Picking up the pace
On the fourth day of the tournament, La Salle won two more medals in various events to add up to their final tally. Parcon claimed gold in the Men’s 5000-meter, winning by a small margin against UST’s Kevin Capangpangan. In addition, another medal was garnered by the Green Tracksters as Rafanan clinched bronze in the Discus event.
Meanwhile, the Lady Tracksters ended the fourth day on a negative note as none of the women’s team were able to stand on the podium, as they only garnered a mere point during the Shot Put, and seven points in the 400-meter hurdles
With the competition coming to a close, DLSU continued to add to their medal tally in the last day. For the men’s, Parcon once more claimed gold in the 1500-meter event. Meanwhile, in the 4×400-meter relay, the men’s team led by Parcon, del Prado, Moreno, and John Nodos, finished first as the team received gold, defending their 4×400-meter relay title.
At the same time, the women’s team added two medals on the last day courtesy of Angel Carino and Melissa Escoton. Carino and Escoton both stood on the podium as the former bagged the gold in the Long Jump, while the latter clinched silver for the 100-meter hurdles, adding 35 points to the Green-and-White tally.
Highs and lows
Unfortunately for the Lady Tracksters, they only garnered 39 points on the last day. The sum of all the points of the women’s team amounted to only 79 points, placing them at sixth. UST, FEU, and UP stood on the podium this Season 80 with UST garnering a total of 434 points all-in-all. “This season for women’s is kind of sad because yung team result we were not expecting na medyo mahuhuli kami kasi we were fourth last year, now I think sixth kami, so yun,” Lady Trackster’s team captain Shaira Hernandez remarked on the team’s performance this season.
The Green Tracksters, on the other hand, concluded the tournament on a positive note. Obiena, who won gold in Pole Vault, was also awarded the Rookie of the Year award. Despite placing a rank lower than the previous season, the team was nevertheless happy, “Malungkot pero ganun talaga ang buhay eh. So we need to accept things lang and we’re happy na walang injured sa amin, praise God na ganun yung results,” Del Prado commented as the men’s team stood on the podium.
