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Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Olympians new NAASCU Track Stars!

Dan Marasigan's golden run

Dan Marasigan hesitated and faltered as the rest of the runners raced towards the finish line and finish well ahead of him in the Men’s 100 meter dash of the 10th NAASCU Track and Field Competition. Rookie jitters got the better of Dan which was the perfect motivation for him to train and hopefully do better after his woeful finish in that race. Back with a vengeance, the now sophomore and highly motivated Dan Marasigan from STI College Fairview used his experience to bag the gold in the 100 meter dash to anchor the STI College Olympians Men’s Track and Field team to the top of the 11th NAASCU Track and Field Competition at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum track stadium.

Mark Mollenido crosses the finish line well ahead of the pack

Marasigan added another silver medal in the 200 meters and together with his colleagues from STI College Fairview he teamed up with Mark Mollenido, Aljon Fostanes and John Jabinal to bag the 4 x 100 meter relay Gold. Inspired by that win, the 4 x 400 relay team of Bona Aman of STI College Novaliches, John Jabinal & Aljon Fostanes of STI College Fairview and Rhomer Clutario of STI College Global City, led from start to finish to win the gold and sneak past the Our Lady of Fatima Phoenix which was leading on points to get the overall team title in the Men's Division. The Olympians ended with 84 points while the Phoenix ended up at 76 points. Romeo Divinagracia of STI College Marikina was the other gold medalist as he ruled the Walkathon event. Clutario also picked up another silver medal in the Men’s 10k run while Mollenido got the bronze in the Men’s 100 and 200 meter dash.

Suzanne Prado is the first Lady Olympian

to win a gold medal

The Women’s team faced a stiffer opposition as the defending champion St. Clare Saints and CEU Scorpions got the stronger finish as the Lady Olympians settled for third. Leading the cause for the Lady Olympians was STI College Novaliches 2nd year BSIT student Suzanne Prado who won the gold medal in the Women’s walkathon. Veteran Joan Beriño added a bronze in the 100 meter dash and a silver in the 200 meter dash. Their efforts were enough to place them third as most of the other team members placed fourth in other events. Other members of the team include Kristina dela Cena of STI College Taft who is playing her third sport besides Volleyball and Badminton, Xyra Gomez, Sherianne Vidallon and Jen Brillantes of STI College Novaliches and Anna Mabanglo of STI College Fairview.

Bona Aman paved the way

for the 4x 400 meter lead and win

For the STI College Track and Field team, hardwork has its rewards as shown in what Dan Marasigan has done. Rising from the ashes of last year’s botched run Marasigan rose to the occasion to lead the Olympians to victory. This turnaround can be attributed to the exemplary discipline and hard work he put on to improve his craft. Truly a story worth being told to STIers for a long time.

The Victorious team

Friday, March 9, 2012

Remembering Larry Marasigan

As a young Atenean naughtiness was always a common place in my mind. Imagine, almost every minute that our teacher is working I was doing something that my teachers would definitely make me go out of the classroom or even go the distance of putting masking tape on my face, slapping me or just plain shout at me. That was me a young naughty kid who was out of control and unaware of the consequences that my actions would bring. When I was in grade 5 a temporary substitute teacher came to our class and taught us the rudiments of the English language. Lo and behold this teacher was a no nonsense guy who would often make me stand up in fear everytime I see him. He is no other than Mr. Hilario "Larry" Marasigan. I remember that the first time I was really serious in reading and studying it was because of him. Unknowingly, he motivated me to study and made me understood that rules are suppose to be followed and that I eventually mellowed down on my naughty nature. I later on became friends with his son Alain who is just a batch ahead of me and also a school mate in PSBA. When I heard about his illness I was quite sad knowing that my idol was stricken down. He eventually was taken by the Lord and I am quite sad to hear that he has left us all. To Mr. Marasigan thank you for all the things that you have done and I know that a lot of Ateneans are thankful that you laid good foundations to our future.

*pic of Mr. Marasigan from Alain's FB account

Saturday, March 3, 2012

Lady Olympians repeat as NAASCU Billiards Champions

The STI College Olympians Billiards Team

The STI College Olympians Billiards team dominated the Women’s Division Team event and placed second in the Men’s Division of the recently concluded 11th NAASCU Billiards tournament which was held at the Star Paper Billiards hall. The Lady Olympians topped the Women's division by beating New Era University, Our Lady of Fatima University, Centro Escolar University and AMA to arrange a titular showdown with CEU. The Olympians beat the CEU Lady Scorpions in the finals 2 – 0 as Tapang and Dado won 3 - 2 and 3 – 0 respectively as the the doubles finals was not played anymore because of the win of the Olympians in the two tables.

Bea Dado for the win

Leading the way for the Lady Olympians is fourth year graduating BSIT student from STI College Quezon Avenue Beatrice Dado who will end her two year stint with the Olympians with back to back Golds in the 9 Ball and 10 ball category. Dado has never tasted defeat since last year and her experience proved to be the moving force behind the Lady Olympians rise to the top.

Diane Tapang shows them how

STI College Caloocan Third year BS HRM Olympian Diane Tapang likewise got the Gold medal in the 9 Ball Category. Unlike last year, Tapang was undefeated this year and she showed her resiliency as she clawed back time and again from losing positions and even on the brink of elimination to rise to victory. The tandem of Cherissa Tan and Cecilia Cid backed up the duo by getting the silver in the Doubles category.

Alex Aquino on the move

The Men’s team almost made it to the top but failed to win it all as the Fatima Phoenix won the deciding doubles match 5 – 3 to thwart the Olympians bid for a double championship. Leading the way for the Male Olympians is 2nd year HRS student Alexander Aquino from STI College Caloocan. The Olympians placed second in the eliminations and had a better tie breaker than last year’s champion AMACU Titans to advance to the finals. Aquino settled for silver in the 10 Ball category but it was his all around brilliance in the 10 ball and doubles category that made the Olympians a stubborn team to put away. Aquino beat Melvin Tan in the 10 ball finals but Jhay Dayo of STI College Quezon Avenue lost in the 9 Ball finals. The two eventually yielded to the streak pocketing Phoenix team to settle for second place. Dayo also got a silver in the 9 Ball category while the doubles team got the gold. Other members of the team are Wilmer Fagyan and John Rey Tapalla of STI College Global City and Ghino Pascual of STI College Novaliches. With the two best players in both divisions graduating, the Olympians hope that next year the elusive double championship will be attained.

TOURNAMENT SUMMARY

(L-R) John Rey Tapalla, Wilmer Fagyan, Alexander Aquino,

Jhay Dayo, Ghino Pascual

MEN’S DIVISION – 1ST Runner - UP

Individual Awards

Nine Balls - Silver Medal

Jhay Dayo, STI College Quezon Avenue

Ten Balls – Silver Medal

Alex Aquino, STI College Caloocan

Doubles - Gold Medal

Wilmer Fagyan, STI College Global City

Ghino Pascual, STI College Novaliches

John Rey Tapallam STI College Global City

(L-R) Cecilia Cid, Bead Dado, Diane Tapang, Cherissa Tan

WOMEN’S DIVISION – CHAMPION

Individual Awards

Nine Balls - Gold Medal

Diane Tapang, STI College Caloocan

Ten Balls - Gold Medal

Beatrice Dado, STI College Quezon Avenue

Doubles - Silver Medal

Cherissa Tan, STI College Quezon Avenue

Cecilia Cid, STI College Quezon Avenue

To view photos please click this LINK:

Monday, February 13, 2012

12th Basketball Showdown Opens

Seven STI Colleges answered the call

The STI 12th Basketball Showdown went underway at the STI College Global City in Taguig as simple ceremonies were ushered in to open the event. This year, seven teams will battle in a one round format with the top four teams fighting over the finals slot. It will just be a winner take all affair for the championship. The new teams this year are STI College Caloocan and STI College Malolos with STI College Novaliches returning after a year of inactivity.

Ruzel Parala of STI College Santa Rosa

on the drive

Two time defending champion STI College Santa Rosa opened their bid for a third straight title with a 72 – 47 win over newcomer STI College Caloocan. Shooting guards Ruzzel Parala and Louise Bondoc carried the fight for the Laguna based cagers as the two shooters scattered 14 and 10 points respectively. Both teams started slowly as the defending champions raced to a 10 – 6 lead but later could not convert on their fastbreaks that made the Caloocan cagers come back and be at striking distance after one quarter 14 – 12. The defending champs eventually pushed on the pedal as they defended well and finally converted on their fastbreaks that put a little distance against the Caloocan team as the first half ended 33 – 22. The defending champs cruised the rest of the way to win a mile away 72 – 47. Patrick Navarro and Aljon Salangsang led the way for the fallen Caloocan team with 11 and 10 points respectively.

Alvin Detubio of STI College Malolos

squeezes one in

In the second game the Bulacan based STI College Malolos cagers unveiled their impeccable team work and running game to cruise past the STI College Novaliches team 80 – 53. Jovito Quetua 18 pts, Abram Pineda 15 pts, Alvin Detubio 13 pts and Jonathan Teraña 13 pts, led the balanced attack of the Malolos based cagers as the Novaliches team groped for form. Pineda started the ball rolling as he scored six points in transition to give the Bulakeños an early 19 - 9 lead. After the first quarter, Quetua attacked the inside while Detubio and Terana ran rings around their defenders to give the Malolos team a 41 – 23 lead by halftime. In the end the lead was so insurmountable that even the combined 34 points of Edison Tulipas, Mark Banda and Vincent Cuenca was not whittle down the 27 point lead.

Battle of the Big men

Villegas (Taft) vs. Ken Baquiran (Global City)

In the final game of the day, the STI College Global City dribblers eked out a hard earned 80 – 72 win against STI College Taft. Junior Olympian Jim Lontoc paced the Global City squad with 23 points but it was the two dagger three pointers by Edcel Lagrimas in the last two minutes that broke apart the close game which eventually went the way of the host school. The Taft five battled tooth and nail and only faltered in the final 2 minutes as their troika of Kenneth San Juan, Lloyd Cagampang and Mr. STI 2011 Jason Villegas proved to be hard to stop for the Global City squad. The two teams were tied after the first quarter, 20-all, tied again in the half 40-all and only two points apart 55 – 57 (Taft) after three quarters. San Juan led all scorers with 27 points on the strength of his six three pointers.

Be there when the action unfolds next Sunday at the STI College Global City Gym.

Sunday, February 12, 2012

17th STI NYC IN MANILA

Monumental would be an understatement if one would describe the most attended Metro Manila version of the STI 17th National Youth Convention as the NYC was played with practically all sessions jampacked. Five years ago the total number of attendees of the NYC was 21,000 students. This week, the Metro Manila NYC totalled 21,416 the most ever.

After three years at the SMX Convention Center the 17th NYC in Metro Manila went back to its former home the Aliw Theatre in Pasay City. The curtains opened with ethereal voices of the STI College Global City Chorus singing the the song "Awit ng Paghahangad" which was a very apt Invocation Hymn. The 10 singers also sang the Philippine National Anthem in acapella.

Former NYC speaker and now Vice-President for Communications Elbert L. de Guzman started the ball rolling by welcoming the delegates to the venue. At the same time he asked the delegates to listen well and learn from the speakers who are at hand. Being a former speaker himself, Elbert kept the crowd alive by making them chant as the delegates answered his shout of "It's all about me" with a chant of "It's all about WE!" Elbert perked up the crowd even before the first speaker came out.

One of the most anticipated part of the Metro Manila National Youth Convention is the opening dance number of the NYC Dancers that ends up with yours truly joining them in the latter part of the dance. This year, my very reliable and loyal choreographer combined the "Moves like Jagger" dance music with the song "I'm sexy and I know it!" which was again a big hit for the STI delegates watching.

STI College Bacoor's Ricky Bunag has been with the NYC team the past few years and has joined me since 2003 when we still had convention for High School students. For him this Metro Manila run is special since this is his first time to be a speaker in front of his own STI Students. Ricky tackled the talk "It's all about Me, Myself and I: Self-Development.

On his second tour of duty, veteran trainer, book writer and inspirational speaker Pido Aguilar delivered a moving talk which is entitled "It's all about WE - Me and my Community!" The delegates will definitely remember his most telling advice saying that "We are not Pigs!"

There was a time in the early goings of the NYC that one of the staple names being waited upon was one of the best speakers of the NYC- AKR. He has since passed his legacy to Dennis Evangelista who has been a crowd favorite and a speaker who has made a lot of followers. This event will be something very memorable to him since days before the convention his father died and him still being a part of the convention shows his commitment to making STIers learn more. Dennis took on the topic "It's all about US - Making a difference!"

Another thing new about the event is the introduction of another partner of STI which is TAO PO! TAO PO is another way to become a changeneer and make the government work for us. One of the most vocal about the changes and a staunch advocate of Tao po is ABS-CBN Regional News Head Charie Villa. Charie led the registration proceedings to make sure that STIers become more proactive in making government work for us.

The 17th National Youth Convention, truly a one of a kind experience for every STIer, one that every STIer can be proud of being a part of.

Sunday, February 5, 2012

STI COLLEGE OLYMPIANS PEP SQUAD NCC Qualifiers

The STI College Olympians Pep Squad's first step towards making it big has started by joining the qualifiers of the National Cheerleading Championships.

The task was simple, join and enjoy the competition. It was all about seeing what the NCC was all about and get to learn from all the different cheer leaders and cheer dancers who were on hand.

This is a great start for the STI Cheer Dancers who will use their experience to toughen themselves and prepare for next year. Above is a cut from the presentation of the Olympians of their monumental NAASCU performance.

Thursday, January 26, 2012

STI College Olympians Volleyball Team wins

The STI College Olympians barely made it to the semi – finals last year as the Our Lady of Fatima University Phoenix shut down their final four hopes by carving out a close 5 set victory that all but halted the hopes of the Olympians for a banner year. As they say, revenge is best served cold as the Olympians bucked a slow start to avenge last year’s loss with an opening day win against the same team 20 - 25, 25-15, 25 -22, 25 - 22 for their first win in the NAASCU opening in four years.

Ponce and Amontos thwart a Phoenix spike

The Olympians relied on the high flying duo of third year BS Computer Engineering high flyer John Ric Amontos and BS HRM Senior Junior Ponce. The two connived to quell every rally mounted by the stubborn Phoenix team. Ably backing up the two are Third year BS Information Technology tosser Rezile Lazaro, Sophomore Computer Science Major striker Jeric Rosas, sophomore BS HRM Rookie Dan Marasigan and, BS Business Management Senior and the Captain Mark Reaño. The six were instrumental in putting the first win for the Olympians in the new season.

Dan Marasigan flies high

The Olympians started tentatively as they got into a maze of errors as the opening day jitters slowly ate them up as their veterans were quite tense which gave the Phoenix a 15 – 8 lead. The Olympians eventually woke up, rallied, lost the first set but eventually got better and there was no denying them the hard earned win over their 2011 tormentors. The game was close in the third and fourth sets with the Olympians showing their poise under pressure by winning the last two sets after both coming from 22 - all ties.

Jeric Rosas on the move

In the other games, CEU and AMA Computer University got twin kills by beating their respective opponents in the Men’s and Women’s division. The Scorpions beat opening day loser City University of Pasay while their Lady Scorpions beat the STI College Lady Olympians. Newly formed Informatics International College suffered twin losses against the AMA Computer University Titans as their Men’s and Women’s Team both got a rude welcome from the Titans. The St Clare College Saints got a split as their women’s team won over the Our Lady of Fatima University Phoenix while venue host New Era University Hunters beat the Men’s team of the Saints. The Titans lead the Men's Division with two wins while CEU, St. Clare and AMA are tied with one win in the distaff side.

Tosser Rezille Lazaro and Jeric Rosas on the block

Monday, January 23, 2012

11th NAASCU Volleyball Tourney opens

The 11th National Athletic Association of Schools Colleges & Universities opened its 2nd semester sports with the Men’s and Women’s Volleyball taking center stage. The Makati Coliseum was once again the venue for the monumental event with eight teams figuring in the Men’s Volleyball and seven teams fighting it out in Women’s Volleyball.

Leading the way in the Men’s division and this year’s title favorite is last year’s Men’s Runner up the AMA Computer University Titans. The Titans opened their campaign with a 3 – 0 win over the City University of Pasay as the lone game in the opening. This year, the tournament will be a single round robin event with the top four teams making it to a knock out semi finals event. The one game final for bothr Men’s and Women’s will be the culminating event of the NAASCU.

The opening stared with the heartwarming rendition of the Invocation hymn entitled “Love is the answer” and the nationalistic interpretation of the Philippine National Anthem by the New Era University Men’s Chorale. Guest speaker for the opening was former Basketball Collegiate standout, PBA Player, National team Coach and now Games and Amusement Board Commissioner Fritz Gaston. To make the event more lively and stimulate the crowd’s interest, all eight muses of the different teams were introduced. STI College’s Monica Martinez was judged as the Best Muse among the eight other competitors who are also players of their respective teams.

The Team’s playing in the Men’s division are AMA Computer University, Centro Escolar University, City University of Pasay, Informatics International College, New Era University, Our Lady of Fatima University, St. Clare College and STI College. In the distaff side the seven teams are AMA Computer University, Centro Escolar University, Informatics International College, New Era University, Our Lady of Fatima University, St. Clare College and STI College where the AMA Computer University Lady Titans are the defending champion.

What made the opening of the NAASCU Volleyball Tournament all the more exciting was the third staging of the NAASCU Hiphop dance competition. The Our Lady of Fatima University bagged first place in the competition with an average score of 89% while the AMA Computer University Dancers came in second and the Centro Escolar University Scorpions came in third. Dr. Ernesto Jay G. Adalem declared the games open and as metioned the lone game between AMA and CUP was won by AMA. Stay tuned for updates on the 11th NAASCU Volleyball tournament and other forthcoming events.