Ellyssa Marriet Roque of Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu celebrates after anchoring her team to the gold medal in the 4×100-meter elementary girls relay at the Cebu City Sports Center. (CDN PHOTO/LITO TECSON)
The year with the most upsets was simply no match to the mighty University of San Carlos-Basic Education Department (USC-BED).
USC-BED successfully defended its Milo Little Olympics Visayas Regional Finals elementary and secondary crowns …. in runaway fashion, no less.
Meet organizer Ricky Ballesteros described the 19th edition of the multi-sporting meet as “the year with the most upsets” but the string of stunning setbacks of the favored teams failed to prevent.
USC-BED from retaining its secondary title with 229.25 points, 59 points ahead of second placer and 17-time secondary champion University of Cebu (170.25). The University of the Visayas Main Campus (UV) finished a distant third with 76 points.
The race for elementary supremacy was but another reflection of the Warriors’ dominance as they accumulated 168.3 points in 13 sporting events to score a grand slam in the division.
Runner-up Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu collected 100.25 points while third placer Subangdaku Elementary School-Mandaue City rounded up the top 3 with 81 points.
“Our formula for winning the Milo Little Olympics is simple – our coaches and athletes train hard, play hard and pray hard. Our victory in the Milo Little Olympics is just a bonus. We will continue to improve and get stronger every year and we will focus on the sports where we are weak,” said USC-BED Athletic Director Saturnino Mayormita.
STUNNING UPSETS
The Warriors though, were not spared the upset ax.
Yesterday, Subangdaku ES ruled elementary boys chess beating no less than defending champ USC-BED while Malabuyoc ES completed the Warriors’ dismal showing in the event by capturing the girls’ crown.
Also, five-time Milo National Finals champion Catmon Central School lost the girls volleyball title to Subangdaku ES.
Also logging jaw-dropping upsets were Danao City’s Beatriz Durano Memorial National High School and Severo Duterte ES which beat defending champion UC and Cebu City Central School in table tennis secondary and elementary, respectively.
University San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) joined the cast of spoilers when it dethroned Pajo NHS in secondary girls volleyball while Mandaue City Comprehensive NHS routed defending champs University of Southern Philippines Foundation in the boys division.
“Of all the years I have organized the Milo Little Olympics, I can say that this year recorded the most number of upsets. I can’t recall any year that has more setbacks,” Ballesteros told Cebu Daily news.
Ballesteros though saw this as a promising sign as the Bisdaks bid to reclaim the overall crown in the National Finals slated this October in Marikina City.
Of the 13 sporting events, USC-BED dominated five in the secondary division and two in the elementary category. But after fielding the largest delegation of 300 athletes, the Warriors were able to erect enough cushion in events where they are not so strong.
In the secondary division, USC-BED earned 40 points in athletics, 25 in basketball, 30 in badminton, 15 in the Men’s Artistic Gymnastics (MAG), 30 in chess and 15 in the boys lawn tennis.
Its elementary squad collected 40 points in athletics, 25 in basketball, 10 in badminton girls and 20 in chess.
SPRINGDALE TOPS FOOTBALL
Meanwhile, Paref-Springdale bagged the secondary football crown with a 2-0 win over SHS-AdC on goals by Maverick Tyrone Jacalan (29th minute) and Mark Moses Nacional (44th) at the Cebu City Sports Center yesterday. The elementary title went to Don Bosco Technology Center (DBTC) which defended its title last weekend against Camp Lapu-lapu ES.
In yesterday’s final athletics events, Ilo-ilo NHS topped the girls 4×400 and 4×100-meter relays while Beatrize Durano MNHS won the boys 4×400 and 4x100m relay titles.
SHS-AdC topped the girls 4x400m and 4x100m elementary relays while Talamban ES won the boys 4x100m relay gold. USC-BED ruled the boys 4x400m relay.
The closing ceremonies will be held today at the USC-BED North Campus.
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