LYCEUM of the Philippines University-Batangas crowned itself street dance champion to highlight the successful opening of the PG Flex-UCAL Season 8 before a huge crowd on Thursday at the FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan City.
The 25-member LPU Dance Machine – energized by the wild chants of ‘Viva! Larga! Pirata!’ – put on an dazzling display of footwork, style and creativity to dethrone host Centro Escolar University in an exciting contest among nine schools.
CEU dethroned
LPU-B tallied 261 points to emerge winner by three points over CEU, which coincidentally was the winning margin of the Mendiola-based school when it ruled the inaugural event last season.
Philippine Christian University-Dasmarinas finished third followed by University of Batangas and Immaculada Concepcion College.
It was a big day for LPU-B after good-looking James Martin Paco was chosen as Mr. UCAL, while charming Zach Rhina Schell of PCU-Dasmarinas took the Miss UCAL title.
Obviously, the loudest cheers were reserved for CEU after the host school staged a simple but significant opening ceremony, one that made this year’s affair very memorable and an inspiration to the next host.
Meantime, CEU president Danilo Concepcion exhorted student-athletes to play with pride, courage and integrity each game no matter how challenging the tasks are.
Tournament Director Horacio Lim and other league officials, including Col. Bong Nebrija, Bernard Yang, Carmelo Navarro and representatives of school owners, expressed excitement over the next event – the volleyball competitions will start on Oct. 14 at UB gym in Batangas City with the Brahmans out to regain the men’s title, while Immaculada Concepcion College going for back-to-back in the distaff side.
The basketball event kicks off in the second part of the academic calendar in February with the Olivarez Sea Lions gunning for a back-to-back.
Other participating schools in the league backed by Akari, Smart Sports, Spalding, Hapee Toothpaste, Mighty Bond, Quintana Sports, Vital Purified Drinking Water, Topflite, Crane and Maruyama, CafeFrance and RC1 Lubricating Spray are Diliman College, Manila Central University, and Philippine Women’s University.
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