INQUIRER LIBRE Varsity Action July 26, 2012

•UST’s crowd stopperJintana Go Yatankosol

page 3

•JohansenAguilarOlympicdreaming

page 4

•Ang lagay ngpuso, career atbulsa momalalaman nasa Bilog angBola page 6

PHO

TOS

BYRO

MY

HO

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LAD

A

ATENEO VS LA SALLEEarly ReckoningATENEO VS LA SALLEEarly Reckoning—Page 7

AU

GU

STD

ELA

CRU

Z

—Page 2

VOL. 1 NO. 4 • JULY 26-AUGUST 2, 2012VOL. 1 NO. 4 • JULY 26-AUGUST 2, 2012

2

JRU’s detoNate-torburies theoppositionBy Alexx Esponga

B EFORE Jose Rizal University sets foot into thecombat zone, Coach Vergel Meneses makessure that his platoon leader is not only ready

to lead the pack of Heavy Bombers but also primed toexplode whenever they need him.

BOOM!Minutes later, he would

leave the battlefield strewnwith carnage, evidence ofhis massive blast, never fail-ing his team in fighting an-other epic battle. He al-ways comes in timeto only do onething— detoNate.

“I’m one of theteam leaders and Iknow my role,”said Nate. “JRU is ateam and we willplay with unity allthroughout the sea-son.”

On his fourth year inthe National CollegiateAthletic Association,Nate Matute is farmore than ready tospearhead the HeavyBombers in snatchingthe championshiponce again and endJRU’s four-decadelong title drought.

“We preparedwell, focused andmade sacrifices forthis. I believe inmyself and in thisteam. I see abright season andI feel that we cango to the FinalFour and hopeful-ly, the finals,” headded.FIRST STEPS

Nate’s jour-ney to the oldestcollegiate leaguein the Philip-pines started on-

ly a year after he movedin to the country fromthe United States whenhe was 20 years old. Hewas first recruited bythe DLSU Green Archers

but fate had betterplans for this

young blood.“I had to

wait twoyears before Icould playfor La Salle,”

said Matute.“Then, I was

practicing at agym in Libertadwhen I met theHeavy Bombersand they askedme if I wanted totry-out for theirteam.”

He only hadto wait a year forresidency to play

for JRU and so,he grabbed thechance. It wasgood news for himsince he was really

eager to play bas-ketball and wants toplay pro-ball in thefuture.

“I like playing formy school and theteam. At first, I had toadjust but now, I’m

having so much fun,”quipped the 24-year oldMatute.

And when askedwho was his closestbuds in the team heanswered, “Brandon

(Porter) and Israel (Camasura)because they’re also Fil-Am’s.”

KILLERMOVES

Even though Nate’s first loveis basketball, he also tried othersports when he was younger. “Idid boxing and little martialarts back then but nothing beatsbasketball,” he shared.

Aside from his killer movesinside the court, he also has thiskiller smile that makes the girlsgo crazy and there is a bit of

sad news for those who arecrushing over this HeavyBomber sharpshooter.

“I have a girlfriend and hername is Rica Joy Dela Cruz,”admitted the Fil-Am Matutewith smiles all over his face.

Nate also loves reading the“Hunger Games” during hisspare time and isn’t afraid toadmit that he’s the kind of guythat listens to smooth music es-pecially “Someone Like You” byAdele. He also adores Japanese

cuisines and enjoys watchingfilms like “The Departed.”

Although he has a long wayto run, Nate is optimistic aboutthe outcomes of the decisionshe made and the things he isfacing in and out the court.

After all, it is not winning orlosing a single battle that countsbut how the war ends and forMatute, he has his secret bombweapons to throw to whoevergets in his way and a whole set ofHeavy Bombers to back him up.

NCAA-INQUIRER LIBRE PARTNERSHIPThe National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), represented by Season 88 host Colegio de San Juan deLetran rector and president Fr. Tamerlane Lana, O.P., renewed recently its partnership with INQUIRER LIBRE. Fr.Lana (2nd right) also chairs the NCAA management committee. Present during the contract signing were:(from left) Letran Executive Assistant Edna M. Maro, Inquirer Libre sports editor Dennis Eroa, Fr. Lana andINQUIRER LIBRE editor-in-chief Chito de la Vega. RODEL ROTONI

JRU’sCoachVergelMenesesAUGUST

DELA CRUZ

ROAD RACEMATUTE (left)engages NoubeHappi of EAC in aheated race forthe looseball.AUGUST DELA CRUZ

JULY 26-AUGUST 2, 2012

Jintana GoYatankosolJJiinnttaannaa GGooYYaa tt aa nn kk oo ss oo llUST’s crowd stopper

By Dennison Dalupang

NOWADAYS, ladies with both brains and beauty are rare

finds. We usually do see a both on a separate shell. But

isn’t always there a single exception for every rule?

That exception had a name—and a face to die for.

The face had been a regular for a university’s pageant

scenes. Not to mention she’s currently in Graduate

School? To add, she’s also a scholar. And oh, did I

say she’s a rib-tickler? Now that’s one heck of a find,

don’t you agree?

BIO:Jintana Go Yatankosol.

20 Years Old.

Born: October 18, 1991.

School: University of Santo Tomas

Current Course: Civil Law, Freshman

FAVORITES:

Color: Pink. I love anything pink!

Number: 28. Dad and Mom consider it as their lucky

number. I see it as my lucky number as well. All of the

family’s acquisitions were obtained, coincidentally, on 28s.

I believe it’s a lucky number for us. We’re pretty supersti-

tious.Food:

Sushi and street food. I consider myself as a foodie too.

But Teriyaki Boy’s crafted sushi and the staple UST isaw

baboy and isaw manok are my go-to’s. I remember

shelling-out a hundred bucks just for isaw, it was ridicu-

lous! Mahi-high blood na at a ko nun!

Drink:

Softdrinks? (Laughter) Anything soda! I’m a simple girl

you know! I don’t do alcoholic beverages. Some even call

me a loser for not drinking alcohol!Sporting Activities:I see my self well-rounded in sports. I play vol-

leyball. I swim. And I do badminton, tooMusic: I love listening to R&B and Hip-Hop. Add

Alternative and House music too. I like the music

of The Script and Coldplay. For local sound, I’d

always pick Urbandub and Somedaydream.

YOUR ROOTSJintana: I’m Half-Thai, Half-Filipina. Born and

raised in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. I

came to the Philippines when I was 16.How’s living in PH? Everything’s here’s great.

The Philippines actually made my dream come

true even though the commuting and flooding

bugs me. Ever since high school, I’ve longed of

settling here for good. It has a lot more to offer

than Saudi. Actually, kulang nalang sa kin dito

are my parents—Okay na ako. Filipinos as very

happy and family-oriented. I grew up within a

community of Filipinos in Saudi, so it’s not like

I’m a tourist here. I can’t really remember any

dull moment in my past 4 years of stay here.

But I do remember kararating ko pa lang I al-

ready got an offer for a TV show!Missing Saudi: Of course I also miss Saudi. I

miss it there too! Especially the Shawarma! The

real deal!

Schools just wanna have funText and photosby Ruth L. Navarra

IT’S always fun to wear yourschool pride. The halftimeuniforms of cheering squadsare no exception. There areteams who opt to stay tradi-tional in their get-ups butthere are those who try tohave fun every year. Here aresome of them.

•YOUTHFUL, VIBRANT,FUN. The Adamson Universi-ty is celebrating its 80th year.Their Pep Squad chose tohonor it with uniforms colorsthat scream happy and fresh.The combination of neonblue and orange lines wasvery eye-catching on and offthe court. We were told thatthe golden stars on theirchests also stand for the “A”in AdU. The uniforms were

designed by coach JosephMascariñas.

•HALTER STOPPER. TheUST Salinggawi DanceTroupe ditched the one-shouldered cut last year for aflattering halter cut. It wasembellished with a gold fab-ric—one that they hopewould not easily fade. Thismade the dancers glitter dur-ing their performance. Theteam brainstormed for thisdesign.

•LOOSE AND EASY. TheUP Pep Squad kept thingsnice and easy with a varsity-inspired uniform. If one looksclosely, it appears more like abasketball jersey instead ofcheerleading uniform. It wasa nice break from the figure-hugging uniforms that cheer-leaders often wear. Theiralumni designed the uniform.

3JULY 26-AUGUST 2, 2012

4

DLSU’S SWIMMING ACE JOHANSEN AGUILAR

By Patrick Leonard Mayo

S TUDENT FIRST, ATHLETE SECOND. Those words perfectly describe the UAAPSeason 74’s Athlete of the Year, Johansen Benedict Aguilar of the De La SalleUniversity Green Tankers. Much can be said about this 19-year-old phenom as

he has proven once more that the UAAP is more than just basketball and that being astudent-athlete in its strict definition is really possible.

Aguilar, who is a consistent Dean’s Lister,considers discipline, sacrifice and time ma-nagement as the keys to excelling both in aca-demics and in sports at the same time. “Eversince when I was in grade school and highschool, I’ve really taught myself to balance mytime well. I really allot time to study aftertraining before going to sleep. I also sacrificedgoing to late-night parties and give up thosethings for a greater good which is studies andswimming.”

EARLY INTRODUCTIONThe 4th Year Applied Economics and Ap-

plied Corporate Management major got intro-duced to swimming at a very young age whichserved as a solid foundation in honing hisskills. “My mom enrolled me in a learn-to-swim class when I was seven and I really en-joyed it and by the time I reached 11, I wasable to qualify for my first international com-petition which was the Southeast Asia Age-Group in Vietnam.”

His love for swimming got deeper and deep-er when he reached high school where he alsoswam for the varsity team of the MGC NewLife Christian Academy in Taguig and by thetime he graduated, he was primed and readyfor the competition in the UAAP. “Since highschool, we had regular competitions whichhelped me prepare for the UAAP and made melook forward to the experience. And as a re-

sult, most of my best times are in the UAAP,” headded.

MAKING WAVESAguilar didn’t just become last season’s Athlete of

the Year without making a huge impact in the leagueas some of his achievements and milestones are ofhistoric proportions. Not only was he hailed as oneof the league’s Athlete Scholars, he also took homeseven individual gold medals in the UAAP wars andbroke the existing Philippine record for the men’s 50meters backstroke, logging 27.52 seconds. He laterimproved this to 27.29 seconds in the SEA Games inPalembang, Indonesia last November.

“All of the achievements that I got are all specialto me but the Athlete of the Year is one of thoseawards that is really hard to get since it involves notonly the athletes in swimming but all the othersports as well and it’s something that is hard toachieve again. For the SEA Games naman, I’m reallyproud to represent the Philippines abroad,” he said.

BIGGER THINGS“I think every swimmer wants to be in the

Olympics. I wasn’t able to make it in the upcomingone but I was able to join the Olympic trials in Si-ngapore last month. Qualifying is very hard so I haveto train more for 2016,” he said.

But as far as this year is concerned, he has noother goal but to help the DLSU Green Tankers re-peat as champions. “We really need to work togetheras a team and I believe I have a big role to play inorder for us to win again,” he added.

DREAMINGBIGTHE swimmingace dreams ofcompeting inthe 2016Olympics

PHO

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HO

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JULY 26-AUGUST 2, 2012

Excellence in andout of the poolEExxcceelllleennccee iinn aannddoouutt ooff tthhee ppooooll

PHO

TOBY

ROY

AFA

BLE.

UNITEDTHE Teng family headed by mom Susan, father Alvin, Jeric and sisters watchJeron do his stuff at the MOA.

HIS Loveis REAL.

UP’s Rafaella de Guzmandancing for my school!

•I am proud of my schoolbecause: We are not passivenor aggressive, but active! We

are not afraid tomake a stand andbe heard.

•If you visitour school, youshould eat at: Rod-ic’s and order theirfamous tapsilog be-cause it’s honestly

the best tapa ever!•You can find me hanging

out in: Maginhawa orKatipunan with my friends orteammates.

•You can win me overwith: Red Velvet cupcake orcake

•I mostly wear for school:Comfy clothes that are weather-appropriate

•My favorite UAAP playeris: Henry Asilum because he’sgiving new light and hope toour men’s basketball team eventhough he’s just a rookie.

•My favorite UAAP mo-ment was: When we achievedthat perfect run in Araneta inlast year’s Cheerdance Competi-tion.

You can follow me in Twitterwith: @rafadeg

BOBBY Ray Parks Jr. made a verynice gesture during the NationalUniversity Bulldog’s first game. Hewore a white “I heart Maan” shirtbefore the game. The shirt referredto former UAAP courtside reporterand UP Fighting Maroon volleyballplayer Maan Panganiban. She wasthe girlfriend of Rayray. She died ofLymphoma earlier this year at theage of 25.

HHHHH

Cheerdance fans could not helpwonder why multi-titled choreogra-pher Ryan Silva of the UST Saling-gawi Dance Troupe (SDT) was letgo. Officially, his contract ended onMarch 31. However, it seems thatSilva expected it to be renewed. Sil-va is one of the winningest cheer-dance coaches in the UAAP.

On his Facebook status, Silva saidthat even when his contract endedhe continued to train with the teamthe whole summer without receivingany pay. He said that he had alreadystarted conceptualizing for thisyear’s UAAP Cheerdance Competi-tion.

He continued with their trainingeven when he received a “thank youletter” from a party which he simplyreferred to as “The Office.” It seemsthat he got the official word througha phone call and that pissed off a lot

of his supporters.“If they no longer needed his ser-

vice that’s fine but they could’ve atleast told him that face to face,” aformer SDT member who requestedanonymity said.

Stories of taking Silva out of theteam have been hanging in the airfor months. Some diehard fans weresurprised with the move while oth-ers welcomed it especially after thelackluster performances of the teamin the past few years.

SDT announced that they have a

new coach last week. It remains tobe seen whether the changes inleadership would bring in cham-pionships.

HHHHH

UST’s Jeric Teng was spottedcheering for his younger brother inDLSU’s two games. At both times,he sat with the rest of his family. Weasked their dad Alvin whom he willroot for when his two sons face eachother in the upcoming UST-DLSUgame on August 4. He sheepishlyanswered, “hati!”

RAFA has been with the UP Pepfor three years. It’s her job tolift the spirits of her school-mates especially during thegames but she couldtake breaks duringtimeouts. Yet, wespotted her tirelesslydancing even at thistime. That’s a yay forschool spirit!

•Age: 20•Course and

year: 4th year Sports Science•I love doing this in my

school: Being able to use mytalent to serve the UP communi-ty. Nothing beats cheering and

ROY

AFA

BLE

Shelikes

tapsilogRAFA DEGUZMAN

5JULY 26-AUGUST 2, 2012

Of nice gesturesand surprising splitOOff nniiccee ggeessttuurreessaanndd ssuurrpprriissiinngg sspplliitt

6

LIBRA

VIRGO

LEO

CANCER

GEMINI

TAURUS

ARIES

PISCES

AQUARIUS

CAPRICORN

SAGITTARIUS

SCORPIO

Love: Y Career: PMoney:‘

YYHahawakan ka niya sa

hindi dapat hawakan

‘‘‘‘Maging cooperative ka

sa may hawak ng pera

PPPPHuwag puro gatas,

mag-juice ka naman

YYYYYBigla, no. 1 ka

na sa priorities niya

‘‘Tatawagan ka ng friend

mo para singilin ka

PPPHuwag magpalipas ng

gutom, kumain sa oras.

YYYMay mangyayari, bigla

siyang magbabago

‘‘Pauutangin mo tapos di

mo na makikita forever

PPPPKumain ng itlog,

pampalinaw ng mata.

YYIisang tao ang nasa isip

niya at hindi ikaw yon

‘‘Huwag magsuot ng

totoong alahas

PPPPara buhok ay shiny,

magsuklay bago sleep

YYYHindi mo expect

reaction ng fans mo

‘‘Problemado ka

sa dami ng bayaran

PPPKailangan mo kumain

ng maraming protina.

YYMaaapakan ka niya sa

paa...sinasadya niya

‘‘As usual, mas malaki

ang babayaran mo

PPGagaling na ubo mo,

sasakit naman paa

YTatakasan ka niya kasi

ayaw na niya sa iyo

‘‘‘Panahon na para bumili

bagong rubber shoes

PPPMag Zinc para lumakas

ang immune system

YYShe’s free tonight. Ang

kaso, ikaw may praktis

‘‘‘Mas maraming games

ang bagong cellphone

PPPTry mo mag-yoga

at baka bumilis ka

YYYYYBuzzer beater na,

three points pa!

‘‘‘‘Laki tipid mo, di ka na

makakabili pirated DVD

PPPPBumisita sa dentista at

least 2x a year.

YYYDi ka niya matitinag,

overweight ka kasi

‘‘‘‘Bumili ng maraming

fruits and veggies

PPPMag-jogging sa

umaga at sa hapon

YYDi ka niya maisisingit

sa schedule niya

‘‘‘‘Dapat ka-partner mo

kasing sipag mo

PPPHuwag na mansanas,

saging na lang parati

YYYYPagka-break ninyo,

maiinlab ka agad sa iba

‘‘‘Magpagamot agad

bago pa lumaki gastos

PPPKulang ka sa sunshine,

magbilad ng konti

Editor in ChiefChito dF. dela Vega

Desk editorsDennis U. EroaFrancis Ochoa

Romel M. LalataGraphic artist

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part, without its prior consent.

JULY 26-AUGUST 2, 2012

QUADRICENTENNIAL PAVILION

UST unveils stateof the art coliseum

“international sportingevents.”

Outside the basketballcourt are the IPEA adminis-trative office and IPEA facul-ty rooms. Also two coaches’lounges and two lockerrooms are located near thebasketball court.

At the third floor is an in-door track oval with a coupleof drinking fountains situatedon every turn. Its windowsalso hold posters of memo-rable sporting events inThomasian history.

To reinforce the QPav se-curity, closed-circuit televi-sion (CCTV) cameras are in-stalled in every corner of thePavilion.

Despite its innovationsand advancements, Sam-buang said that the comple-tion of the whole Pavilionwill take almost a year andnew facilities will be installedwithin a time frame.

“Right now it’s almostnearing completion with fin-ishing touches in the electri-cal and paint jobs needing tobe attended to,” said Sam-buang.

“The athletes are alreadytraining here and we havetransferred our offices here,and maybe, if the priestswould have it, a wall-climbingfacility can be installed here”

By Rodolfo Serafin Jerome T. Lozada

A FTER its 39-year supremacy in the 85-year-old University Athletic Association of thePhilippines, the University of Santo Tomas

has upped the ante with its newest sporting Valhalla.

Situated on 11, 784.33square-meters of land, theQuadricentennial Pavilion(QPav) is the new home ofthe UAAP’s striped competi-tors, and is considered themost advanced school facilityamong Philippine universities.

“By far, compared to otherschools and colleges of theUAAP, the QPav is the mostadvanced facility,” said Assis-tant Professor Rodrigo I. Sam-buang, UST Institute of Physi-cal Education and AthleticsAthletics Moderator. “Not onlyis it a sporting facility, it’s amulti-purpose building thatcan host other events, andeven international conven-tions.”

Last November, the QPavhosted the 8th QuacquarelliSymonds-Asia Pacific Profes-sional Leaders in Education(QS-Apple) conference andexhibition, an internationalconvention of school officialsabout scholastic concerns.

Located on the first floor ofthe Pavilion are trainingrooms for UST’s champion

teams of judo, taekwondo,table tennis, fencing, bad-minton, and a dancing hallfor the Salinggawi DanceTroupe. The first floor alsohouses a two-level fitnessgym, a gymnastics room andfive lecture rooms for IPEAclasses.

A steel masterpiece is alsolocated on the lobby facingEspaña Boulevard, “Campe-one” by Thomasian artist JoeDatuin. The sculpture won inthe Olympic CommitteeSports and Arts contest in2008.

At the heart of the QPav ,is the parquet basketballcourt which Sambuang saidis the “crowning glory of thewhole pavilion.” An NBA-standard hardcourt adornedwith black-gold-white tigerstripes and a hand-paintedtiger’s head in the center cap-tures the Thomasian’s sport-ing intensity.

With 5,000 seats sur-rounding the parquet floor,Sambuang said that thePavilion is capable of holding

CROWNING GLORYNBA-standard hardcourt

Bilog ang Bola Ni Hormel Delata

ATENEO VS. LA SALLE SEASON 75

Early Reckoning

The four-time defendingchampion Blue Eagles, the prog-nosticators’ favorite to win it allagain this season, demolishedthe Adamson Falcons, 73-57, intheir first game and thendropped a heartbreaking andeasily winnable game to theUniversity of Santo TomasGrowling Tigers by a solitarypoint, 71-70. Bouncing back inmighty fashion however, theBlue Eagles flattened title con-tender National University Bull-dogs, 89-95. After their wake-up call against UST, the Ate-neans must be brimming withconfidence heading into theirface-off with their bitter rivals.

Waiting for them will be adangerous De La Salle squad.After fending off a late Universi-ty of the Philippines challengein their opening game toemerge victorious, 73-68, theGreen Archers ran rings aroundthe University of the East RedWarriors, 67-59, to pull away asearly league leaders. But a reso-lute Far Eastern University quin-tet shocked the Taft dribblers inthe endgame with a defense-dominated ballgame, 48-46.The Green Archers look forwardto possible redemption againstthe Loyola squad.

A lot of attention has beenfocused on the two teams asidefrom the dual predictions thatboth shall make the final fourthis year if they play up to ex-pectations. But there’s a lot go-ing on behind the lines, espe-cially with regards to the coach-ing situations on both sides.

The Ateneo’s multiple-titledcoach, Norman Black has al-ready announced that he isleaving the team after thisyear’s reach for that rare fifthstraight championship. Even asthe team tries to defend itscrown on the floor, a much-scrutinized search for Black’s

successor is going on away fromthe games.

What is clear is that this is theend of an era for the Blue Eagles,and what an era, with the Ateneoperched atop the UAAP basketballstandings since 2008.

After failing to reach the finalFour last season, the GreenArchers started a new era of theirown, with long-time mentorFranz Pumaren exiting. In hisplace is bright Gelacio “Gee”Abanilla, charged with the man-date of making over the De LaSalle squad in his image. The DL-SU fans look forward to whatshould be a solid run under anew coach, hopefully as enduringas Pumaren’s run with the team.

The Blue Eagles will lean ontheir potent starters, featuringreigning rookie of the year KieferRavena, smooth swingman NicoSalva and the hulking presence of7-foot Greg Slaughter. A nascentaddition has been point guardJuami Tiongson, who has orches-trated the team’s offense withpoise while scoring at willand—most notably—turning theball over only once so far this sea-son. Defensive-minded jitterbugTonino Gonzaga or energetic andlong Oping Sumalinog fill out thestarters. When this unit is clicking,with Slaughter executing the in-out offense with the outsideshooters, the Ateneo is hard tobeat.

The De La Salle offense is in-stead run out of the backcourtwith fierce LA Revilla and thisseason’s designated gunslinger,star rookie Jeron Teng headlin-ing a penetration-and-pass sys-tem. Teng has already provedhe can lead the DLSU attack,and athletic big men NorbertTorres and Arnold Van Opstalprovide ceiling and those all-im-portant offensive rebounds.Emerging as the designatedstopper is Jed Manguera.

While the Blue Eagles have asuperior starting unit, the GreenArchers have a more depend-able bench unit. The Blue Ea-gles can dominate right off thebat but when it comes time tosit Slaughter and Ravena, theAteneo reserves have proven in-consistent. It will fall to centerJustin Chua and the come-back-ing forward Ryan Buenafe tofind buckets while the startersrest. Their recent performancespromise much and may provethe key to their title defense.

On the other hand, the LaSallians jump off the benchwith more energy, particularlywith gifted scoring guards Al-mond Vosotros and JarelanTampus hard-working JovetMendoza plus veterans JoshuaWebb and Yutien Andrada. Evenas Abanilla breaks in freshmanpoint man Mark Tallo, theGreen Archers have less of agap heading into substitutions.

Both teams are likely tothrow zones at each other andchallenge the other to beatthem from the perimeter, some-thing that isn’t automatic withthis year’s incarnation of thetwo teams. This is particularlyimportant for the Green Archerswho will need this to neutralizeSlaughter’s defensive presencein the paint. Another elementthe Green Archers have to payattention to is their free-throwshooting, which has been disap-pointing so far. The Blue Eaglesneed to focus on execution, par-ticularly out of their two-mangame, with Slaughter needingto pass out of double-teams andothers making the extra passwhen the defense bites.

From a scheduling stand-point, the Ateneo faces an easi-er future, with games againstUP and UE up next before ananticipated match-up with los-ing 2011 finalist FEU at round’send. The Archers, on the otherhand, will meet tougher compe-tition with the upset-mindedUST Tigers, AdU Falcons andthe wounded NU Bulldogs com-ing up. In that sense, DLSUneeds this win more with noeasy wins left in the remainderof their schedule.

By Ruel S. De Vera

A S it always has been, the Ateneo Blue Eaglesand the De La Salle Green Archers find eachother at a standoff, but this time very early in

the 75th season of the UAAP. With just three games un-der their belts, the two teams boast identical 2-1 win-loss records and got there in similar fashion.

With identicalrecords,

archrivalsAteneo BlueEagles andDe La Salle

GreenArchers faceoff in a newera of theUAAP withmuch toplay for

THE CLASHJULY 28

(Mall of Asia Arena)2 p.m.-UST vs NU

4 p.m.-DLSU vs Ateneo

Looking at the long-term im-plications, these two squads caneasily find themselves clashingagain, either in the final four ormaybe even the season 75 finals.

One expects the two teams tobe at full attention this Saturdayready, as always, to play theircross-town rivals. History is in thefavor of the Blue Eagles, as theAteneans are a combined 9-1against the Archers in the UAAPat the Smart Araneta Coliseumsince the Ateneo four-peat com-menced in 2008. But the GreenArchers are hungry to start theirnew era with a resonant winagainst the Blue Eagles in thevery first Ateneo-La Salle classicto be played at the brand-newMall of Asia Arena. Everyone likesto say that the wins and lossesdon’t matter when these two sto-ried sides meet, and that’s whyAteneo-La Salle remains the mostcompelling draw in Philippinesports, regardless of records andseasons.

BLACK

ABANILLA

PHO

TOS

BYA

UG

UST

DEL

AC

RUZ

7JULY 26-AUGUST 2, 2012

8 JULY 26-AUGUST 2, 2012

DENISE ERIKA DAVID

Warrior dancerBy JonalynMae Antonio

WHENasked if be-coming adancer is alife-longdream,Denise Eri-ka Davidansweredwithout bat-ting an eye-lash, “Oo, kahitnoon pa man.When I was achild, I dreamedof being an iceskater. I love per-forming in frontof many people.Kapag may mgafamily gatherings,palagi akong-pinagsasayaw atnatutuwa sila.”

Denise’s affair withcheerleading begansummer of 2008.

Before joining theUniversity of theEast Pep squad,David used to trainwith different univer-sities such as Adam-son, FEU, and LaSalle.

‘‘Madaling maka-bonding at very wel-come ako ng mgakasama ko sa UE,” re-called Denice.

There’s is oneproblem, though.David always suffersfrom illness before amajor competition.

But being in thesidelines doesn’t pre-vent David from sup-porting UE. Shecheers her lungs outfor her teammates.

ACTIVEBorn and raised in

Caloocan City, Deniceis oldest of three girls.

She went to De LaSalle Araneta Univer-sity during her gradeschool and highschool where she alsoplayed basketball andvolleyball.

David also excelledas member of theDrama Club, Perform-ing Arts Group, and

even in StudentCouncil.

“Very active talagaako, gusto ko lahatsalihan,” said David.

This talentedcheerleader is very at-tracted to a slim, tall,and guys who candance.

She admitted thatshe’s kikay as well assporty kind of girland fun to be with.“Sa Pep kasi isa akosa pinaka-makulit.”

She believes thatthere is always roomfor improvement soeven her teammatesserve as her inspira-tion to enhance herdancing skills.“Ayokong nasasayangyung oras ko sa train-ing. Sometimes ngakapag yung mga boysnamin sa Pep naga-gawa yun ganungklaseng tumbling, ini-isip ko kaya ko dinyan.”

David dreams ofgoing to Japan. ‘‘Kasisuper favorite ko siHello Kitty.”

ROM

YH

OM

ILLA

DA

DAVID