End of an era, dawn of a new one: Sweet Carolinian sweep as USC-BED rules Milo Little Olympics

CEBU, Philippines - Armed with a united front and a comprehensive sports program, the University of San Carlos-Basic Education (USC-BED) etched its name in stone as the first school ever to dominate both the elementary and secondary divisions in the 18-year history of the Milo Little Olympics Visayas Regional Finals.

The resounding twinkill authored by the spirited Carolinian athletes was even made sweeter and more special because aside from a grandslam feat in the elementary level, they also put an end to the 17-year dominance of powerhouse University of Cebu (UC) in the secondary division, signifying that the time has come for a new era to dawn in Cebu sports landscape.

At the conclusion of the two-weekend competition yesterday at the Cebu City Sports Center, USC-BED snared the overall championship in the hotly-contested secondary division with a convincing 227 points out of the 13 sporting events featured in this annual joust bankrolled by Nestle Philppines.

The once untouchable Webmasters of UC settled at a distant second with 175.8 points, mainly because they fielded in bets in only seven sporting disciplines, while Abellana National School (ANS) came out third overall with 78.25 points. The University of the Visayas (UV)-Main Campus is at fourth with 65 points followed by Iloilo National High School with 57.

Included in the top 10 list were Sacred Heart School-Atendeo de Cebu (53.25), Southwestern University (36.75), PAREF-Springdale (35), St. John Institute-Bacolod (30.25), and Beatriz Durano Memorial NHS-Danao (28). Springdale got the bulk of its points from football where it won gold after crushing SHS-Ateneo, 4-0.

In the elementary battle, it was a complete domination by USC-BED which cruised to a record third straight title with 238.5 points.

UV-Main, the most dominant force in gymnastics, was a far second with 62.5 points, while SHS-Ateneo landed at third with 55 points.

Completing the top 10 performing schools were Catmon Integrated School and Subangdaku ES with 40 points each, Labangon ES, University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) and Severo Duterte Memorial ES with 30 points apiece, Don Bosco Technology Center (DBTC) with 29 points, and Talisay City South ES of Negros Occidental with 27.5 points.

USC Athletic Coordinator Saturnino Mayorita could hardly believe that they finally got the overall supremacy they have been dreaming of. It did not come overnight though as they had to toil hard for several years to come up with a formidable team and eventually scale their summit of success.

“This is such a blessing. We did not expect this although we did prepare for this for two to three years. This is a result of our long-term planning. Going into today’s (yesterday) championship in basketball and volleyball, we did not think that winning those events will make us the overall champion. We did not pressure the kids, but as you have seen, they played their best. They really fought hard to get the title," said Mayormita.

Playing with their hearts out, the USC-BED dribblers pulled off a 56-55 cliffhanger in overtime against the equally-tough SHS-Ateneo to win the gold medal in secondary basketball at the Cebu Coliseum.

USC-BED’s spikers were as gallant as their cagers, showing the real essence of a 'Warrior' after they grinded through a fifth-set thriller over the gritty ANS side in the secondary boys volleyball finals, 22-25, 25-18, 23-25, 25-16,15-9.

“This is the first time that USC made it to the boys volleyball finals and winning the gold was very much unexpected. ANS was a tough team to beat but my boys gave all the best they could,” said USC coach Jonrey Sasing.

Aside from basketball and volleyball, USC also ruled in secondary boys swimming, badminton, tennis, and chess. They also raked in points in gymnastics, scrabble, and table tennis.

In the elementary category, the Carolinians sealed their scintillating campaign with a golden showing in basketball after beating SHS-Ateneo, 56-47, behind the troika of King Balaga, Zurich Enriquez and Joseph Berdin.

Prior to basketball, the young Warriors were dominant in the medal-rich athletics and swimming events as well as in chess and badminton. They also fared well in table tennis, gymnastics and sipa.

At the stands, some USC supporters wore yellow t-shirts with a print that reads, “Defend, Respect, Unite”. True enough, the entire Carolinian community has shown that they truly deserved the double victory that earned them a total of P80,000 in cash prize.

“This is a product of hardwork and our approach to our sports program as we try to discover new talents. It is a concerted effort, from the administration to sports coordinators up to the parents and the alumni. We were united on this," said USC-BED Director Fr. Felino Javines, Jr., SVD.

Fr. Javines, however, said this is only the just beginning of a bigger task for them as they look forward to contributing more for the Visayas region in the MLO National Finals that will be hosted once again by Cebu on October 24-27.

For his part,  event organizer Ricky Ballesteros is just as happy as USC and the rest of the winning squads as it means they have done something good.

“We can clearly see that the level of competition is getting higher with USC becoming a team on the rise. The other teams and players also did very well in their performances. Everything that I have seen is good for Team Visayas as we look forward to regaining the overall crown in the Milo Little Olympics National finals,” said Ballesteros. (FREEMAN)