La Salle, UP rule UAAP swim meet

Swimmers from La Salle and the University of the Philippines asserted themselves on two fronts to rule the typhoon-swept University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) swimming competitions Sunday at the Trace Aquatic Center in Los Banos, Laguna.

    Actor-model Enchong Dee bagged his third MVP award after claiming  golds in seven events, and this enabled the Green Archers to win their first  men’s championship in five years.

    Dee took charge in the  800-meter freestyle (9:14.84), 200-meter Individual Medley (2:15.42), 100-meter butterfly (57.38), 50-meter butterfly (26.37), 400-meter Individual Medley (5:01.09), 1,500-meter freestyle (17:39.69) and 200-meter butterfly (2:13.74).

    His efforts helped give La Salle 240 points on top of the  men's division standings, while Ateneo took second with 196.

    The UP Lady Maroons snared their first women’s crown in 10 years, and anchored their run of victories on the veteran tanker Marielle Infantado in the  200-meter butterfly (2:32.80), rookie Claire Adorna in the  50-meter butterfly (32.19) and the  4x100-meter medley relay team nina Infantado, Andrea Belludo, Queenie Lao and Kristine Lapiz (4:50.10).

    The Lady Maroons  tallied 257 points, and beat season 71 champion Ateneo, which settled for second spot with  233.5 points. La Salle landed  third place honors with 137.5 puntos.
   
    Ateneo’s Nikki Santiago claimed the  women’s MVP plum after grabbing five  golds.

    Santiago's output included three meet  records in the  800-meter freestyle (9:31.22), the 100-meter freestyle (1:00.65), and the  400-meter freestyle (4:36.61).

    She also topped the  200-meter freestyle (2:12.63) and the 50-meter freestyle (28.64).

       National age-group swimmer   Denjylie Cordero of Ateneo  claimed the Rookie of the Year award in the women's action after nailing five  golds, which includes titles in the  200-meter IM (2:31.40), the 50-meter breaststroke (35.13), 100-meter breaststroke (1:16.77), 400-meter IM (5:18.55) and the  200-meter breaststroke (2:50.60).