UAAP: UE’s Salano, FEU’s Mabunga nail MVP titles

ROSALES: Eclipses Lydia de Vega record.

MANILA, Philippines — Richard Salano of University of the East and Jennysmille Mabunga of Far Eastern University put away athletics’ MVP trophies in the recent UAAP Season 76 dominated by FEU via a sweep of the men’s and women’s overall championships.

The season also saw Lady Warrior Jennyrose Rosales shatter a long-standing record of the legendary former Asian sprints queen Lydia de Vega.

In a swashbuckling performance, Salano snatched the gold medals in the 10,000 and 5,000 meters and 3,000m steeplechase and also clinched the silver in the 1,500m.

Mabunga posted wins in the 1,500m, 5,000m, 10,000m and 3,000m steeple-chase and placed second in the 800m  to help underscore FEU’s domination.

In all, the FEU women have won 11 straight titles while their male counterparts have extended their reign to four consecutive years.

FEU—with Isidro del Prado Jr. picking up golds in the 4×100, 4×400, 200m and 400m—accumulated 378.5 points to bag the overall crown in the men’s division.

University of Santo Tomas was a far second with 299 points, followed by University of the Philippines (242).

The rampant Lady Tamaraws topped the table with 451 points followed by UST (394) and UE (233).

Rosales highlighted the Lady Warriors’ big windup with a 54.65-second clip in the women’s 400m, smashing De Vega’s old 54.75 national mark set in 1981.

Fel Vincent Quetolio of University of the Philippines and Eloiza Luzon of UST emerged top rookies for Season 76.