Members of the University of Santo Tomas women’s sabre team came off with a 45-40 upset of the University of the East Lady Warriors on Friday at the close of the 87th University Athletic Association of the Philippine fencing tournament at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.
Victories posted by Kim Tuy, Krystal Tuy and Janna Catantan gave UST the overall honors in the women’s division.
This denied UE a fourth consecutive sweep of all four divisions, as the Warriors took only three of four crowns at stake this year in the men’s, boys’ and girls’ categories.
Tuy’s 5-1 beating of UE’s Adrienne Lim, followed by Catantan’s 5-3 edging of Shareen Beltran led to UST’s maiden title conquest.
“The sabre team performed well and so did new faces like Alexa Larrazabal and Janna Catantan,” said UST women’s coach Donnie Navarro.
UST got its other golds from Alexa Larrazabal in the individual women’s epee and from Catantan in the women’s foil.
This saw UST finishing with a 3-3-1 gold-silver-bronze performance in the women’s division.
UE still continued its domination with the league’s longest championship streak at 13 titles in taking the boys’ title, driven by consecutive victories from both the men’s and girls’ teams.
The UE Junior Warriors, behind Khiane Lim, James Lim and Brynt Gale, claimed the boys’ foil crown with 45-27 edging of UST.
The Red Warriors extended their title streak to 11 seasons, with a strong performance from their foil team and three-time MVP Nicollei Felipe.
Felipe powered UE’s 45-30 stoppage of the University of the Philippines in the finals.
In the girls’ division, UE claimed its 12th consecutive championship, with Opao Catantan earning her second consecutive MVP honor. Peter Atencio
Catantan’s two gold medals in the individual and team foil events were the keys to their success.
Meanwhile, the De La Salle Zobel epee team, led by Miyake Carpina, earned a podium finish with a tally of 1 gold, 2 silvers, and 4 bronzes, clinching the gold medal in their match with a 45-40 victory.
Earning the Rookies of the Year awards were UST’s Ian Heinz Miranda and UE’s John Brian Siembra in the boys’ division, UST’s Marian Patrisse Castro in the girls’, UST’s Alexa Larrazabal in the women’s, and UE’s Charles Babatio in the men’s side.