UST gets UAAP Season 85 general championship; UE to host Season 86

University of Santo Tomas is once again the general champion of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines.

UST garnered 336 points in the collegiate division and 217 points in the high school division to take home both titles, with the awarding held during the league's closing ceremony on Saturday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

The Tigers won championships in women's 3x3 basketball, men's and women's beach volleyball, men's table tennis, women's taekwondo, men's judo, men's tennis, women's athletics, and men's chess on their way to the overall title.

This is the España-based squad's sixth straight general championship and 46th overall in league history.

De La Salle University placed second in the championship race with 279 points, while University of the Philippines placed third with 260 points. De La Salle Santiago Zobel School also finished second with 139 points in the high school division, while Far Eastern University-Diliman had 134 points.

The UAAP gives 15 points for a championship, 12 points for second place, 10 for third, and continues to decrease down to one point for eighth-place finishers.

Meanwhile, the UAAP also recognized athletes who stood out in the season.

Swimmer Xiandi Chua (DLSU) and softball player Nickole Dela Cruz (UP) were named as Athletes of the Year from college, while trackster Kent Jardin (Adamson) and hooper John Rey Pasaol (FEU) claimed the title in the high school division.

The league also recognized student-athletes who competed in the Southeast Asian Games such as basketball gold medalists Jerom Lastimosa (Adamson) and Mike Phillips (DLSU), and top athlete-scholars from each school.

Prior to this, UST squads Prime and Galvanize claimed the crowns in the streetdance competition for college and high school division, respectively.

Adamson on Saturday also turned over the hosting duties to University of the East for Season 86. Next season's theme will be 'Fueling the Future' as the UAAP looks to add more events when it opens by September.

—Justin Kenneth Carandang/JMB, GMA Integrated News