ERNEST John Obiena set a new national record and shared the limelight with John Lloyd Osorio following record-shattering feats in the recent 78th University Athletic Association of the Philippine athletics’ meet at the Philsports Oval in Pasig City
The 20-year-old Obiena broke his own three-year-old mark of 4.5 meters in the men’s pole vault after clearing 5.46 meters.
He was a centimeter ahead of a five-month-old Philippine record of 5.45 meters, which he set in the PATAFA Weekly Relays last September.
Obiena’s good showing helped tow University of Santo Tomas to second place in the men’s division with 287 points in the five-day meet, where seven marks were broken.
Far Eastern University, led by Clinton Kingsley Bautista with two golds in 100-meter run and the 110-meter hurdles, took home the men’s crown for a sixth straight year.
Osorio led University of the East to the junior boys’ honors by rewriting existing course marks in the 800-meter and the 1500-meter runs.
He erased the two-year best time of La Salle’s Javier Luis Marfori (2:05.24) with a two minute and 6/10ths of a second clocking, while taking the 1500-meter in 4:27.77, more than three seconds off Kyle Narido’s time in 2013.
UST got 465 points to earn back-to-back honors with the women’s side.
Karen Janario’s three golds in the 100-meter hurdles, 100-meter and 200-meter sprints contributed to a sixth straight women’s championship as UST relegated FEU to second with 371.5 points.
UE took the boys’ and girls’ crowns with 440 and 203 points, respectively.
Krisha Sardenia topped the women’s 3000meter and 5000-meter runs to give UST additional points.