FEU tracksters sweep men's, women's titles

MANILA, Philippines - Far Eastern University made its opponents eat dust as it swept the women’s and men’s crowns of the UAAP Season 73 track and field competitions that ended yesterday at the PhilSports field.

The Lady Tamaraws ran away with their seventh straight title after assembling 330 points against University of Santo Tomas’ 252 and University of the East’s 102, capping their romp with blazing victories in the long distance and steeplechase events on the final day.

It was the 19th women’s title overall for FEU, which underscored its domination by placing 1-2-3 in steeplechase, courtesy of gold medalist Dalyn Carmen (11:43.8), runner-up Mary Ann dela Cruz (11:50.9) and bronze winner Nancy Pilaro (11:54.2).

Carmen and Jenismyll Mabunga also pulled off a gold-silver finish in the 10,000-meter run while Dela Cruz and Pilaro took 1-2 in the 1,500-meter event.

The sprints also belonged to FEU with Hanelyn Loquinto topping the century dash (12.1 seconds) and 200-meter run (25.5 seconds).

FEU’s male entries, however, needed a strong finish in the men’s 4 x 400m relay and a victory by Jesson Cid in decathlon to nose out UE in the final points race, 202-201. Settling for third place was UST with 156 points.

The Tamaraws, thus, brought the trophy back to their Morayta campus after yielding it to the Warriors last season. They hiked their collection to 19 titles overall.

FEU’s Carmen and Cid, both veterans of the ASEAN University Games, were adjudged MVPs for their sterling performances.

UP Integrated School, meanwhile, won its second straight juniors plum, logging 308 points to beat Ateneo (228) and UST (190).