NU claims Season 85 poomsae title

c/o UAAP

National University secured its first title in the Poomsae portion of the UAAP Season 85 Taekwondo tournament, which took place on Tuesday morning at the Blue Eagle Gym.

The Bulldogs won two golds and two silvers in the five events being contested, pipping the University of Santo Tomas, who also won a couple of golds, but could only muster a silver and a bronze.

NU sealed their maiden title in the men's team event, with the trio of Ceanne Rosquillo, James Lopez, and Jed Tan netting an 8.265 score, narrowly netting the gold over the trio of Dominic Navarro, Joshua Cachero, and Datu Rayhan of the University of the Philippines and their 8.235 score, for the lone medal of the Fighting Maroons in the competition.

A UP gold would have handed UST a successful title defense, with Vincent Rodrigues, Kobe Macario, and Dairus Venerable falling short with a 8.165 to finish third in the division.

NU's other gold came in the women's individual category with Laeia Soria topping the field with a score of 8.250. Last season's Rookie-MVP Aidaine Laxa came in second with 8.135 for UST, with Mikee Regala of La Salle completing the podium at 7.880.

Soria would be named as the tournament's Most Valulable Player.

NU head coach Dustin Mella says about the championship, "I'm still processing it, but it's hard work basically. We had to rethink our own approach to our lineup, to the events we want to emphasize. It was a lot of hard work and there were really so many factors."

The Tiger Jins' two golds came in mixed pair and the women's team events.

Rodrigues teamed up with Chelsea Tacay to nip the duo of Patrick Perez and Regala of DLSU, 8.230 to 8.215, with Ateneo's Joaquin Tuzon and Elaine Borres finishing in third with 7.895.

Laxa, Jade Carno and Stella Yape retained their gold with a 8.350 score, with Soria, Abegail Pacificador, and Denise Alicias claiming the silver medal with an 8.215. Completing the podium is the La Salle trio of Sofia Sarmiento, Zyka Santiago, and Daphne Ching with their 8.005.

The Blue Eagles secured the only gold that did not belong to either NU or UST, as Tuzon topped the men's individual event with an 8.195 score, nipping both Rosquillo's 8.170 and Perez's 8.115. In securing the gold, Ateneo would lock in its first podium finish in the history of the competition.

Still ongoing is the high school kyorugi competition, with the collegiate action set to take place in the next couple of days.