University of Santo Tomas reigned supreme in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines Season 85, claiming the general championship in both the collegiate and high school divisions for the fifth straight time.
The España-based school received the award during the closing ceremonies yesterday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
UST’s student-athletes collected 336 points in the seniors division for their sixth consecutive general championship and 46th overall.
The Growling Tigers were victorious in men’s and women’s beach volleyball, men’s table tennis, women’s taekwondo, men’s judo, men’s tennis, women’s athletics, and men’s chess championships.
On the other hand, UST’s juniors dominated the division as they amassed 217 points for the school’s seventh straight title and 22nd overall.
The Tiger Cubs ruled the girls’ table tennis, boys’ taekwondo, girls’ beach volleyball, boys’ and girls’ swimming, boys’ and girls’ judo, and girls’ athletics tournaments.
De La Salle University finished second place in the seniors division with 279 points, while the University of the Philippines completed the top three with 260 points.
De La Salle-Zobel was the runner-up to UST with 139 points while Far Eastern University-Diliman placed third with 134 points.
The UAAP awards 15 points for a championship, 12 points for second place, 10 points for third place, and continues decreasing down to one point for the eighth-place finisher.
Feted as Athletes of the Year in the collegiate competition were tanker Xiandi Chua from La Salle and slugger Nickole de la Cruz of University of the Philippines.
Chua claimed six gold medals, one silver medal, and one bronze medal during the women’s swimming championships, setting four league records. She also won gold in the 32nd Southeast Asian Games’ 200m backstroke event, setting a new games record with a time of 2:13.20.
De la Cruz led UP to the softball finals and was named the tournament Most Valuable Player. She also received awards for Best Slugger, Best Hitter and Most Runs Batted In.
De la Cruz was also part of the RP Blu Girls pool for the 2023 Asian Women’s Softball Championship.
Adamson’s Kent Jardin and Johnrey Pasaol from Far Eastern University-Diliman were crowned Athletes of the Year for the high school division.
Jardin guided Adamson to its first boys’ athletics crown in 24 years, winning all seven of his events.
Pasaol powered FEU-D to the boys’ basketball crown. He was selected for the Mythical Team in 5-on-5 basketball and won the MVP award in the 3×3 tournament.
The league also honored the 73 student-athletes who represented the country in the SEA Games.
To close out the season, Adamson University formally passed the hosting duties to University of the East for Season 86.
