By ADRIAN STEWART CO

The De La Salle University (DLSU) Lady Green Tracksters claimed the overall championship in the UAAP Season 86 women’s athletics tournament at the PhilSports track oval in Pasig City on Sunday, November 26.

Negrense trackster Bernalyn Bejoy was named Most Valuable Player (MVP) after spearheading the Lady Green Tracksters’ campaign with four gold medals.

Bejoy won her gold in a league-record-breaking fashion in the 400-meter (55.75 seconds) and 400-m hurdles (1:00.49), while also winning the 800-m race (2:12.86) and 4×400-meter relay.

Bejoy, a former standout of Romanito Maravilla National High School in Negros Occidental, capped her campaign in the tournament with a bronze medal in the 200-m run (24.88 seconds).

“Goal ko po talaga is mag-MVP and makuha ng team ‘yung championship. Nagtiwala lang po ako sa sarili ko at, syempre, sa team. Masaya ako na nakuha ko both,” Bejoy said.

The Lady Green Tracksters won the women’s overall title with 301 points over traditional powerhouses Far Eastern University (FEU) Lady Tamaraws (268) and University of Santo Tomas Female Tracksters (235).

“First-ever title, first-ever. Speechless ako eh, but I’m so happy,” Lady Green Tracksters head coach Jeoffrey Chua said.

“Sabi ko lang sa kanila, ‘Stay motivated,’” he added.

Meanwhile, the National University (NU) leaned on heroic finishes from Van Alexander Obejas to dethrone the two-time defending champion University of the Philippines by a mere 10.5 points in the men’s athletics championship.

The Bulldogs ended up with 312.5 points against the Fighting Maroons’ 302.

The FEU Tamaraws completed the podium with 221 points.

“Sabi ko sa mga bata, ‘Let’s pray for the best and let’s do our best para makuha natin.’ This is our golden opportunity kumbaga, huwag na nating sayangin,” NU head coach Fernando Dagasdas said.

“Malaking bagay ito para sa programa namin at sana magtuloy-tuloy ito,” he added./ASC, WDJ