UP Pep Squad aims to be better next after another 6th place finish

Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

The UAAP Cheerdance Competition and University of the Philippines have almost become synonymous with each other ever since UP started raking in titles from 1999 to 2012.

UP always seemed to find itself in a spot wherein the spectators always demanded the best out of it, but the UP Pep Squad hasn’t lived up to the expectation for the past two editions of the competition.

After they skipped the 2016 edition and returned the followng year, the UP Pep Squad has since finished just sixth place in 2017 and 2018.

Its captains, though, don’t mind finishing in an unflattering result as long as they’ve put on a show the UP community can appreciate.

“Our goal is to show that we have a happy and colorful routine, and you can see that the UP community enjoyed it so we’re happy with it,” said Cyrus Benjamin Saturday at Mall of Asia Arena. “Even though it’s the second straight year that we missed out on the podium, that’s how things are, there are winners and there are losers. We just have to accept it.”

The UP Pep Squad, who won eight titles to tie University of Santo Tomas as the winningest school in the competition, performed to the theme of the school’s iconic Sablay that students don when they graduate.

Co-captain Mika Sales said they chose the Sablay as their theme to represent the colors and emotions associated with the emblematic garment.

“We chose ‘Iskulay ng Sablay’ for each color of the Sablay—red was love, green was growth, yellow was happiness, and purple was faith and getting through it,” said Sales. “We tried to show all of that through the routine.”

UP tallied 568.5 points after its performance, 70 points behind third place Adamson University, but the captains insisted that their performance was meant especially for the UP community.

“For me, this is for the UP community and I hope that they don’t stop supporting us,” said co-captain Megan Mendoza Cabrera. “We’re working on getting better, we’re working on improving. Our goal every year is to do better from the year before, and I think our team is going through that progression and I think we’re going to do better next year.”