FIRST time’s a charm.
Jose Rizal University rookie taekwondo jin Emie Soriano Fernandez hogged the spotlight last Tuesday in the online NCAA 96th season women’s poomsae standard competition.
Fernandez scored 7.550 points to bag the gold, while Diane Nicole Supangan of College of St. Benilde took the silver medal with 7.284 points and Lara Alejandrea Andres settled for the bronze with 6.867.
San Sebastian College’s Keith Laura Baladya missed the podium after winding up at fourth place with 6.767, followed by Letran’s Stephanie Shane Ashley Arana at fifth with 6.734.
Completing the list were Emilio Aguinaldo College’s Chelsia Marie Banez with 6.484, Arellano University’s Francis Claire Apuya with 6.234, and Lyceum’s Marinella de Peralta with 6.117.
The NCAA pushed through with its new season with online events, with the basketball and volleyball tournaments getting mothballed.
Among the options the country’s oldest collegiate league considered was holding its season in a bubble at the Inspire Sports Academy in Calamba, Laguna
The plan did not push through due to the whopping P40 million estimated cost and without the nod from the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases.
The remainder of the 95th season was scrapped in March last year at the start of the government-imposed lockdown to stem the spread of the deadly pulmonary disease caused by the novel coronavirus.
Indoor volleyball, football, lawn tennis, soft tennis, track and field, beach volleyball, and cheerleading were called off for good last season.
The Commission on Higher Education released the safety and health guidelines for the resumption of varsity training last October.
Eight months later, the collegiate leagues are still waiting for the go-signal from the IATF.
The Philippine Sports Commission also crafted guidelines for the conduct of collegiate tournaments in December last year.
