FEU retains men’s and women’s athletic titles

MANILA, Philippines -- A youngster from University of the East (UE) hogged the spotlight with four record-breaking performances as Far Eastern University (FEU) remained as the men’s and women’s champion in UAAP Season 74 athletics competitions.

Daveson Kyle Narido emerged as the runaway Most Valuable Player (MVP) in the four-day competitions after he shattered league juniors records in the 1,500-meter, 5,000-meter, 3,000-meter and 2,000-meter steeplechase.

He also won gold in the 800-meter and clinched silver in the 4x400-meter relay.

Narido’s time of 4 minutes, 34.49 seconds in the 1,500 meters shattered the old record of 4:36.53, which Rolando Albert Jerhiel Jr. of University of Santo Tomas (UST) set in 2006.

UST’s Duncan Amarante (4:39.21) clinched silver and UE’s Blaise Miguel (4:43.22) bagged bronze.

The Junior Warrior then clocked 17:51.94 in the 5,000-meter, breaking also Jerhiel’s 2006 mark of 18:11.14, and winning with plenty to spare over teammate Chester Miguel Corpuz (18:59.26) and Amarante (19:15.62).

In the 2,000-meter steeplechase, Narido’s 7:08.77 again erased Jerhiel’s 7:10.38 (2005) and shoved Domingo (7:23.93) to the silver and again Amarante (7:30.73) to the bronze.

Narida was also unstoppable in the 3,000-meters, registering 10:02.39, which broke UST’s Benjamin Cayabyab’s 2008 record of 10:18.55. Paul Renzo Domingo of University of the Philippines was second in 10:24.69 and Amarante third in 10:29.30.

The 800-meter gold medal was also picking for Narida with his 2:09.74 clocking. UE actually finished 1-2-3 in the event, with Miguel bagging silver in 2:13.07 and John Robertson Madayag settling for the bronze in2:15.11.

But while Narida dominated the juniors action, FEU stamped its class in the seniors, winning the men’s crown anew for its 20th big trophy overall with 188 points, with UST finishing second (160), followed by De La Salle (144), UE (142), Ateneo (111), UP (96) and Adamson (4).

It was basically the same in the women’s action where FEU dominated for the eighth straight season with 293 points. UST was a far second with 233, followed by UE (171), UP (68), De La Salle (51), Ateneo (25) and Adamson (5). Overall, it was also FEU’s 20th women’s title.