Two of Ateneo’s most dominant student-athletes during the short-lived UAAP season were honored by the school on Thursday.
Basketball star Thirdy Ravena and swimming marvel Chloe Daos were hailed as the GUIDON-Moro Lorenzo awardees.
Ravena is the first basketball player to win the Sportsman of the Year award since Nonoy Baclao, who copped the award back in 2010 together with judoka JR Reyes.
On the other hand, this is Daos’ second Sportswoman of the Year citation, also winning it back in 2018 during her rookie year.
The 20-year-old was also named as this year’s Ambrosio Padilla Athlete of the Year.
And the two stalwarts truly had brilliant season.
To start the year, the 23-year-old was part of the Gilas Pilipinas team during the 2019 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers.
Ravena would then steer the Blue Eagles to an immaculate 16-0 sweep of the UAAP Men’s Basketball Tournament. To cap his collegiate career, he also became the first-ever three-time Finals Most Valuable Player in Men’s Basketball in the 82-year history of the league.
For her part, Daos continued her dominant run in the UAAP pool, winning all seven of her events during the four-day meet last October to increase her collegiate tally to 21 golds.
In her last swim for the season, she broke the five year-record of a fellow Moro Lorenzo awardee in Hannah Dato, clocking in a UAAP record time of 2:19.03 in the 200m Butterfly event to erase Dato’s 2:19.71 mark from the books.
Other nominees for the Sportsman of the Year were reigning two-time UAAP backstroke king Aki Cariño and UAAP Men’s Fencing Foil Individual event gold medalist Jaime Viceo. The two other finalists for the Sportswoman award were UAAP Women’s Badminton co-Finals MVPs Geva De Vera and Chanelle Lunod.
Daos also bested Romina Gavino and reigning, two-time UAAP Men’s Judo middleweight champ Bernie Margulies.
The crowning of the GUIDON-Moro Lorenzo and Ambrosio Padilla Athletes of the Year citation is a yearly event that is part of the Loyola Schools Awards for Leadership and Service.
The Moro Lorenzo citations recognize athletes “who have shown excellence and utmost dedication in their sport.”
