The sports history of Mapua University goes far beyond the walls of Intramuros.
Since it joined the National Collegiate Athletic Association in the 1930s, the school whose team moniker was adopted from the American baseball team Saint Louis Cardinals, has been home to some of the country's sports legends.
Take for example, Simeon Toribio and Miguel White, tracksters who brought home bronze medals in the 1932 and 1936 Olympics, respectively. The two were part of the country's early batch of international athletes. While Toribio and White were representing the Philippines during those times, the Mapua Athletics team won its first title in 1934, and since then has won a total of 38 titles for the juniors, seniors, and team events.
Those who continued the legacy of Toribio and White were the likes of three-time Southeast Asian Games (SEAG) gold medalist (2005, 2007, 2013) and long jumper Henry Dagmil, and 2019 SEAG bronze medalist (mixed relay) Raymond Alferos.
Mapua is also home to chess legends Renato Naranja and Ildefonso Datu who are both FIDE International Masters. Of course, one of Mapua's proudest products is World Chess Hall of Famer and Asia's first grandmaster Eugene Torre, who achieved the feat in 1974.
Hoops Hall of Famers
Aside from athletics and chess, the Cardinals is also home to some of Philippine basketball's legends.
Mapua bagged its first basketball title in 1949 and since then has won six titles in the seniors division, with their last being in 1991, and more than 20 titles in the juniors division.
Of course, talking about Mapua's sports legacy will be incomplete if the names of Atoy Co, Freddie Hubalde, and Alvin Patrimonio.
Co, also a former coach of the team, joined the Cardinals in the 1970's and won the Most Valuable Player (MVP) plum in 1971. Eventually, he would become one of the pillars of the legendary Crispa Redmanizers and would win a grand slam in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) in 1976. He was league MVP in 1979 and eventually became one of the PBA's 25 Greatest Players. Co was also inducted in the PBA Hall of Fame in 2005.
Hubalde, who was NCAA MVP in 1973, was also part of the Redmanizers team that won the PBA Grand Slam in 1976 and 1983. He was also PBA MVP in 1977 and is one of the PBA's 25 Greatest Players. He was inducted in the PBA Hall of Fame in 2011.
Meanwhile, Patrimonio donned the red, black, and gold from 1983 to 1986. During his stint with the Cardinals, "The Captain" bagged back-to-back MVP awards from 1985 to 1986.
As a professional player, Patrimonio won four MVP awards and was part of five championships with the Purefoods franchise in the PBA. He was named as part of the 25 Greatest Players in 2000, and was inducted to the Hall of Fame in 2011.
Patrimonio also represented the Philippines multiple times, winning a silver in the 1990 Asian Games, and bronze medals in the 1996 and 1998 editions of the regional meet.
Red, black, and GOLD
Aside from representing the Philippines on the world stage, Mapua athletes also have their own winning tradition.
Since the general championship was introduced in the NCAA in 1960, Mapua won it first and the school has bagged 21 seniors and 8 juniors titles since then.
But even before the general championship, Mapua has been dominating in lawn tennis, swimming, and football.
Mapua took home its first lawn tennis title in 1932 and has won a total of 35 titles, with 17 in the juniors and 16 in the seniors.
For swimming, Mapua won the seniors championship from 1947-1985 every time the competition was held. It was halted by the Colegio de San Juan de Letran in 1986 before the Cardinals again dominated the waters from 1987-1993. In total, the Mapua swimming team has a total of 40 seniors championships and 22 juniors titles.
Mapua also saw its football heyday in the 1950's when it won its first juniors title in 1952 and seniors title in 1955. Since then, it has won 19 titles, 12 of which came from the seniors event.
The Mapua Cheerping Cardinals, the school's official cheering squad, also put its name in the history books as the winner of the first NCAA cheerleading competition.
From then until now, Mapua has truly been a home of outstanding athletes that not only the NCAA, but also the country, will be proud of.
—JMB, GMA News
