By Leiniel A. Santos

Even though the Far Eastern University Cheering Squad’s (FEUCS) Frozen-inspired theme fell short of a back-to-back championship, they now tally six straight podium finishes with bronze medals in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 87 Cheerdance Competition earlier today, December 1, at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

The green-and-gold squad started their streak in Seasons 81 and 82 with a silver finish, followed by gold in Season 84, silver in 85, and another gold in Season 86.   

In the post-event press conference, head coach Randell San Gregorio mentioned that their dance saved them to still be on the podium.

“We’ve had too many mistakes, medyo mabigat ‘yung mga mali… Buti nalang hinila kami ng dance choreo namin, nag-second kasi kami sa dance… Pero okay pa rin, na-maintain namin ‘yung streak (We've had too many mistakes, some of them were pretty serious... But luckily, our dance choreo pulled us through, we came in second in the dance... But it's still okay, we were able to maintain our streak),” he said.

With their bronze title this season, FEUCS ranked second in two categories which are in tumbling, and dance with 82 and 352.5 points, respectively.

Meanwhile, their 80 points in stunts and 78.5 in pyramids ranked third, following National University (NU) and Adamson University (AdU).

FEUCS then struggled with their tosses as their 74 points only ranked fifth. 

Team captain Juneric Gabotero then gave thanks to their head coach for providing a great Frozen-inspired piece.

“Nagpapasalamat po ako kay Coach Randell na binigyan niya kami ng magandang piyesa. Masakit lang po sa’kin kasi last playing year ko na po, ‘di na po ako makakabawi next year. Siguro tutulong na lang ako sa mga lower batch po para maka[bawi] po kami next year (I am grateful to Coach Randell for giving us a great piece. It’s just painful for me because this is my last playing year, I won’t be able to make a comeback next year. I guess I’ll just sleep with the lower batch so we can come back stronger next year),” he said.

This bronze win, with a total of 650 points, marked FEUCS’s 22nd podium finish in the tournament. 

NU's 713-point victory has now tied them with the University of Santo Tomas and the University of the Philippines for the most titles, each with eight. Meanwhile, AdU’s 679.5 secured the silver medal.

(Photo by Gwyneth Mendoza/FEU Advocate)