by KIM Quilinguing

UP placed third in the over-all standings in the 71st Season of the UAAP after an impressive one-to-nil victory of the UP Fighting Maroon Booters over the FEU Tamaraws at the Erenchum Field of the Ateneo de Manila University.

Jose Andoni Santos of UP sealed the fate of the Tamaraws by scoring the deciding goal. The Maroon Booters bested the defending champions after beating them twice in a twice-to-beat series. Fighting Maroon John Edward Rances was later named as the season’s Most Valuable Player in Football.

In Men’s Volleyball, the Fighting Maroons settled for second place after the UST Growling Tigers won the best-of-three series at the Arena in San Juan City. The Maroons had earlier defeated the DLSU Green Archers, despite the Archers’ twice-to-beat advantage, placing the boys from Recto in the third spot. UP’s Gerald Magtoto was hailed as the Best Setter for this season.

Along with their colleagues in volleyball and football, the Fighting Maroon Fencers also took this season’s second place in the Women’s category, and third place in the Men’s category. The Maroon Sluggers placed second in baseball. The Fighting Maroons also grabbed third place in the Men’s category in Tennis. UP’s Robert Miguel France Nasis was named MVP for Track and Field in the Juniors Division.

During the first semester, the Fighting Maroons were batting for third place in the over-all standings in the UAAP after its hard-earned championship win in Women’s Judo, where Ada Theres Estanislao was named as the Most Valuable Player; second place in Women’s Basketball; third place in Men’s Swimming; second place in Women’s Swimming, with Luica Gaudes Dacanay named Most Valuable Player; third places for Men’s and Women’s Table Tennis. UP also successfully defended its championship title at the Cheerdance Competition.

The over-all standing of a university in the UAAP is determined by adding all the points earned by its participating teams. The teams are scored based on how they placed in their respective events. According to the system adopted by the UAAP, 15 points goes to the champion, 12 points goes to the first runner-up, and 10 points to the second runner-up. Points ranging from eight to one are also given to winners of the fourth place to the eighth place in events that have more than three places for finishers. This season, the University of Santo Tomas headed the pack with 333 points; followed by De La Salle University with 241 points. UP came in third with 235 points.

The UAAP events include basketball, chess, beach volleyball, judo, taekwondo, table tennis, and cheerdance during the first semester; and baseball, football, softball, tennis, track and tield, volleyball, badminton, and fencing during the second semester. UP participated in all events.

This season’s host, the University of the Philippines, had hoped to bag the championship as an athletic tribute to the centennial celebrations of the country’s premier university. UP was Overall Champion in the UAAP in the 40th and 41st Seasons (1977-1978 and 1978-1979), in the 43rd Season (1980-1981), the 45th Season (1982-1983) sharing the title with the University of Santo Tomas, and in the 60th Season (1997-1998).

The Closing Ceremonies were held at the UP Bahay ng Alumni on March 12, 2009 where the season’s winners were handed their awards. Aside from the recognition of the team and individual winners and the MVPs, UP’s Javier Luis Gomez of the Men’s Track and Field Division was recognized in the Academic Achievement Awards for athlete scholars. The ceremony also marked the end of the 71st Season with UP Diliman Chancellor Sergio Cao turning over the hosting duties of the UAAP games for the 72nd Season to Far Eastern University President Anton Montinola. (With reports from the UP Diliman Information Office)

From the UP Newsletter