UST leads race for UAAP general championship after 1st sem events

University of Santo Tomas (UST) is poised to win again the general championship in the 74th UAAP after topping seven of the 14 events completed in the first semester. UST may not have won or figured prominently in the highly popular men's basketball event but collected 151 points behind victories in men's and women’s judo, women’s beach volleyball and men’s table tennis and taekwondo. The Espana-based school, which have won a record 38 general championships including 13 straight from 1998 to last season, also placed second in men's beach volleyball and swimming then finished third in women's basketball. Fourth-place finishes in men's basketball and taekwondo, and women's badminton and swimming also helped UST's first-semester showing. The Tigers recorded their worst performance in women's swimming, placing fifth. La Salle is in second place with 139 points built around a men's swimming title and second-place finishes in men's judo, women's table tennis and men's and women's taekwondo. The Archers also wound up third in men's and women's badminton, women's judo and swimming, and men's table tennis. Ateneo is third with 117 points and highlighted its strong showing with the Blue Eagles winning a fourth-straight men's basketball crown and clinching the men's badminton title. Far Eastern University (FEU) came in fourth with 111 points marked by victories in women's basketball, men's beach volleyball and women's taekwondo. Completing the order of finish after the first semester events were University of the Philippines (UP) fifth with 105 points, University of the East (UE) sixth spot with 72 points, Adamson University seventh with 56 and National University (NU) eighth with 34. The champion team is awarded 15 points while the second and third placers get 12 and 10 markers, respectively, in a certain UAAP event. Eight, six, four, two and one are each given to the fourth to eighth place finishers. UST has teams in all 14 events, as well as Ateneo and La Salle. Adamson does not participate in swimming and taekwondo, FEU does not have teams in judo and swimming, NU in judo, swimming and taekwondo and UE in women's table tennis. UP pulled off victories in women’s swimming and table tennis and had one runner-up finish in women’s, while UE dominated women’s badminton but fared no better than fourth—men’s beach volleyball, taekwondo and swimming—in the other events it took part in. Adamson failed to win a title in the first semester and only managed a runner-up performance in women's basketball. It also finished third in men's basketball and beach volleyball. NU, which has embarked on a massive sports rebuilding program, was second in men's badminton, its best-finish in the first semester. Eight more sports will be played in the second semester—baseball, softball, football, chess, tennis, fencing, athletics and volleyball. — JVP, GMA News