UST jins bag sixth UAAP title

By Ma. Kristina Maralit - Manila Bulletin - September 19, 2008

University of Santo Tomas achieved a rare feat after posting a "six-peat" in the women’s division and reclaiming the men’s championship in the UAAP taekwondo tournament late Wednesday at the Far Eastern University Gym.

The Tigresses romped to their sixth straight title with a five-game sweep, capped by a 4-3 victory over University of the Philippines.

Flyweight Caryn Pilongo was adjudged women’s Most Valuable Player while teammate Jade Zafra was named Rookie of the Year.

It was also an easy victory for UST in the men’s division as the Growling Tigers cruised past La Salle, 6-1, and toughest rival FEU, 5-2, to regain the championship it lost to the Tamaraws last season.

MVP and ROY honors respectively went to flyweight Jurrie Bernardino and featherweight Dane de Roda.

"Even though we lost key players in the men’s and women’s teams, we came to the tournament well prepared," UST coach Dindo Simpao said. "Every year we’ve been faced with tough competition but we always managed to deliver."

The Lady Tamaraws came in second with a 4-1 slate, while the Lady Maroons settled for third spot at 5-2. Ateneo, meanwhile, took runner-up honors in the men’s side with a 4-1 record, while FEU came in third at 3-2.

In the juniors division, University of the East prevented a UST sweep of all the titles with the Pages ending UST’s six-year reign with a 5-0 record, beating the Baby Tamaraws (4-1) and the Tiger Cubs (3-2) to bag their first ever UAAP crown.

Anthony Sarnia was named juniors MVP, while John Resaba is ROY.

Taking second place is UST who finished with a 4-1 slate, while the Eaglets took third spot at 3-2 in the tournament sanctioned by the Philippine Taekwondo Association.

Pilongo along with teammates Nicole Amarillo (finweight) Camille Manalo (middle/heavyweight), and lead the gold medal winners in the distaff side followed by UP’s Geneve Castillo (featherweight), Wynde Legarda (lightweight), and Sheena Perlas (welterweight), and Eunice Alora (bantamweight) of La Salle.

In the men’s division, aside from Bernardino, UST’s other individual gold medals came from Christian dela Cruz (featherweight) and Samuel Morrison (welterweight). The other winners are Gyle Genoso (finweight) and Mark Dizon (flyweight) of Ateneo, FEU’s Rommel Roa (bantamweight) and Jacob Barroga (middle/heavyweight), and David Rivera (lightweight) of La Salle.