In pursuit to promote camaraderie between competing teams, Visayas State University (VSU) Main and Tolosa campuses, goes head-to-head for gold in the Athletics competition as part of the Goodwill Games 2023 in celebration of the institution’s 99th founding anniversary on April 24, at the VSU Upper Oval Grounds. VSU-Tolosa dominated the men's division of the track events while VSU-Main reigns the women’s division. For the field events, VSU-Main concluded the competition with most top-place finishes for both the men's and women's divisions.
Fueled by their emotions of hunger to claim the gold, athletes for the track events in the athletics competition competed in seven events in the men's category and six in the women's category. 100-meter dash, 200-meter dash, 400-meter dash, 800-meter dash, 1500-meter run, 3000-meter run, and 4x100-meter relay were the highlight events for the men's same as the women's category except for the 3000-meter run.
Richard Leuterio of VSU-Tolosa claims a first-place finish as he outlasts his rivals from the VSU-Main and VSU-Tolosa in the men's category of the 100-meter dash recording a total time of 11.79 seconds. On the other hand, Connie Ampo, of VSU-Main levels the field as she took home the gold beating her competitors with 14.92 seconds recorded time in the women’s category of the same event. In the 200-meter dash, Connie Ampo again finished in first place as she barely escaped Christine Araco of VSU-Main, whose only 0.03 seconds behind. VSU-Tolosa's bet Christian Doquiles also finishes strong in the men's division recording a time of 25.67 seconds. For the 400-meter dash, Christian Doguiles and Christine Araco dominate in the men's and women's divisions while in the 800-meter dash, VSU-Main's Allen Trocino and Melody Maestre win the top plum for the home team.
In the 1500-meter run, Mat Reymund Acuin of VSU-Tolosa outclasses the other three runners from the Main Campus and one from Tolosa Campus as he recorded a time of 5 minutes and 4.39 seconds in the men's category. In the women's division, Claire Aquino of VSU-Tolosa outruns her lone nemesis in the same event from VSU-Main with a 3-minute difference. Mat Reymund Acuin tallied his second first-place finish in the men’s category of the 3000-meter run.
For the last event in the athletics competition, teams from both campuses battled it out in the 4x100-meter relay concluding the one-day contest with opposite results as the VSU-Tolosa clinches first place in the men's division while the VSU-Main team captures the top place in the women's category.
The inclination of the athletes goes on as the field event leads off five events for the men's category and three events for the women's category. Javelin throw, Discus throw, Shot Put, Triple jump, and Long jump were the featured events for men as well as the women's division except for Javelin throw and Triple jump.
Edgardo Ortiz of VSU-Main took the lead as he bagged first place for Discus throw with a 26.10m best effort among his other opponents for the men's category. Competing from the same campus, Micah Guinocor from VSU-Main left a huge gap against her only challenger with a best effort of 16.63 meters in the Discus throw women’s category. Deo Avestruz from Tolosa Campus won in a close-call match against other players finishing an 8.51-meter record for the Shot Put event in the men’s category. Meanwhile, Micah Guinocor again secured first place for the Shot Put event in the women’s category with a 6.52m record. Steven Niel Quirong from Main Campus managed a narrow escape, finishing first place with 5.60m best in the Long Jump event for the men’s category against three opponents. The same fate with Quirong, Main Campus’ bet Gie-ann Lapuz embarked on a 3.72m record on claiming first place in the Long Jump event for the women’s category.
For Triple Jump event, Steven Niel Quirong retained his first-place finish with a 11.46m best against four rivals on men’s category and down to the Field’s last event, a great launch from Jhon Paul Oquiṅa of Tolosa Campus tallied a 37.66m score, landing on first place for men’s category.