UE wins title in the UAAP Season 85 women’s fencing championships. –UAAP PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines–University of the East completed another dominant run in the UAAP fencing competition with a quadruple crown in Season 85 that concluded on Sunday at UST Quadricentennial Pavilion Arena in Manila.
UE bagged its eighth quadruple crowns in nine seasons, capturing its first two championships of UAAP season in both high school and collegiate divisions–an 11-peat in the boys’ division, ninth straight in men’s and girls’ titles, and back-to-back plums in the women’s side.
The UE Lady Red Warriors closed their campaign with two golds for the day, denying University of Santo Tomas, which had a strong start before settling for runner-up, and University of the Philippines, whose gold was courtesy of Juliana Gomez, daughter of former national team member and actor Richard Gomez.
De La Salle University had a hand in the result, taking down UP in the epee team semifinal, 45-42, before bowing out to UE in the final, 20-45.
Queen Dalmacio bagged her second straight Most Valuable Player award, three seasons apart, after leading the team to that tight 45-44 win in the sabre final to seal the championship.
Catantan sisters Allysah from UST and Shekinah from UE won the top rookie awards in the women’s and girls’ divisions, respectively.
The girls’ squad clinched the team sabre gold with a 45-34 finish of De La Salle Zobel.
“The players didn’t know, we didn’t tell them that the match was crucial. We just told them to play their game to win,” UE head coach Amatov Canlas said in Filipino.
“I didn’t tell them that the winner was going to be the champion. I just reminded them of our hard training. We had good training and we didn’t slack off. Just give your best and trust yourself and the coaches,” he added.
UE wins title in the UAAP Season 85 men’s fencing championships. –UAAP PHOTO
The Red Warriors and the Junior Warriors, who secured the men’s and boys’ titles on Saturday, leaned on brothers Nicollei and Francis Felipe–who were named co-MVP and co-Rookies of the Year–and team captain Louis Shoemaker, respectively, in taking the foil team golds.
Felipe and his squad stopped Ateneo, 45-34, on the men’s side while Shoemaker and the rest of his quartet also took care of Ateneo, 45-20, in the boys’ division.
Eubert Gale ended as one of the MVPs in the boys’ side alongside James Lim, who was also touted as the best rookie for the season.