UST's Azeneth Serat. UAAP Media
MANILA — Azeneth Serat took center stage as records continued to tumble on Day 3 of the UAAP Season 88 Athletics and Swimming Championships at the New Clark City Sports Hub in Tarlac.
Serat, a third-year standout from the University of Santo Tomas, claimed the women’s 3,000-meter racewalk gold with a record-breaking time of 14:45.54, smashing her own 15:27.96 finish from last season.
This marks the Lady Trackster’s second gold after her performance in the 5,000-meter race walk last Thursday, where she also set a new mark of 26:04.63, breaking the 17-year-old record of Far Eastern University’s Florinda Gonzales, who had clocked 27:27.73.
Juliana Talaro (15:13.07) and Julianne Bayola (15:58.99) of the University of the Philippines finished second and third, respectively, mirroring their placements in Thursday’s 5,000-meter race walk.
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In the men’s race walk, Carlos De Imus, now representing FEU, secured the 5,000-meter gold with a record-breaking time of 21:17.04, eclipsing his own mark of 23:05.29 set in Season 85 (2022) while at UST.
University of the East’s Vianmar Dela Cruz (21:58.72) and National University’s Aaron Arandia (23:31.64) took silver and bronze, respectively.
Ranier Sobrepeña ended the golden slump of defending men’s champions UP in the triple jump, setting a new UAAP record of 15.42 meters, surpassing FEU’s Ronne Malipay’s 15.29 meters from Season 81 (2018).
READ: UAAP: UST's Jayvee Ceballos breaks decade-old record in boys' hammer throw
DLSU’s Joshua Patorara finished second with 15.11 meters, while last year’s winner, UP’s Clint Niño Neri, completed the podium at 14.48 meters.
In the high school division, UE’s Anthony Cariaso and NU Nazareth School’s Rain Mabelin joined the record-breaking spree. Cariaso won the boys’ 1,500 meters in 4:00.10, while Mabelin finished the boys’ 3,000-meter race walk in 13:36.48.
At the Aquatics Center, the swimming competitions saw league leaders Ateneo de Manila University and UP asserting their dominance in the men’s and women’s divisions, respectively, with new 100-meter backstroke records.
Ateneo’s Ivo Enot reset his own record of 58.59 from last season with 58.45 in the morning preliminaries, fueling the Blue Eagles’ bid for a 10-peat title.
Meanwhile, Season 86 Athlete of the Year Quendy Fernandez shaved time off De La Salle University’s Chloe Isleta’s 1:04.13 mark from Season 85 (2022), setting a new standard of 1:03.79.