Sprint king Alhryan Labita collected his fourth gold and Ed Deliña topped the men’s discus throw for the third straight season as University of the Philippines firmed up its three-peat bid in the UAAP Season 86 Men’s Athletics Championships on Saturday night at the PhilSports Track Oval in Pasig City.
After retaining his 100m title in record fashion on the opening day on June 22, the 4x100m relay and 400m gold medals last Friday, Labita ruled the 400m hurdles with ease.
His fourth gold on Day 4 of the event enhanced his bid to winning the MVP award for the second straight season.
Deliña’s win was equally impressive, heaving the iron disc to a distance of 47.28, bettering his own meet record of 44.97 set last season. National University’s Joshua Melgar settled for a silver in 47.16 meters. Adamson’s Daniel Rambacal was a distant third (41.44m).
“Actually, nahirapan ako kasi ang dami kong events. Ang in-expect kong mag-record ako is sa shotput. Well, na-break ko naman ‘yung shotput (record), pero 10 minutes lang tumagal. Hindi ko inaasahan din ‘tong discus na makukuha ko,” said Deliña.
Their victories hiked UP’s tally to 245 points, just 4.5 points ahead of NU.
FEU’s Ernie Calipay established a new UAAP record, dominating the high jump in 2.05 meters, a mere centimeter higher than the Season 77 mark set by Janry Ubas, a former Tamaraw.
Red Warrior Lorenz Sediarin and Bulldog Alberto Ubando completed the podium after emerging from a quadruple tie at 1.85 on countback.
Meanwhile, Bernalyn Bejoy captured another gold, leading La Salle’s finishing push on the women’s side against nearest pursuers FEU and University of Santo Tomas.
The national team upstart claimed the 400-meter hurdles title, nearly breaking the one-minute barrier at 1:00.49. Lenlyn Sanita of NU, who finished third in the 400m straight, took the silver with 1:03.46, while Josie Inemedo of UP rounded out the top three with 1:04.13.
The Lady Green Tracksters opened a comfortable 51-point gap against the FEU Lady Tamaraws (271 to 220), even as the UST Lady Tracksters (208) inched closer to the latter.
