Mariano Marcos
State University

MMSU Unigames 2026: CTE tops sports gold medal tally, CAS dominates cultural events

By Myrrha Prima Rosa Muli

After four days of competition, camaraderie, and displays of athletic and artistic excellence, Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU) capped UniGames 2026 on October 9. The College of Teacher Education (CTE) topped the sports medal tally for the second consecutive year, while the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) dominated cultural events.

CTE emerged as the highest-scoring college in sports for the second consecutive year, tallying 117 gold medals. It is followed by the College of Business, Economics, and Accountancy (CBEA) with 76 golds; College of Industrial Technology (CIT) with 73; College of Engineering (COE) with 31; College of Health Sciences (CHS) with 31; College of Agriculture, Food and Sustainable Development (CAFSD) with 29; College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) with 18; College of Aquatic Sciences and Applied Technology (CASAT) with 13; and the College of Computing and Information Sciences (CCIS) with 10. The College of Dentistry (COD) won two silver and three bronze medals, placing it one rank above the College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM) in last place.

In cultural events, CAS emerged as the highest pointer, earning 174 points. The college last topped the events in 2017. Following CAS are CTE placed with 118 points, COE with 94, CIT with 57, CBEA with 56, CCIS with 50, CHS with 42, COD with 39, CVM with 26, and CAFSD with 20 points.

As the games concluded, University President Virgilio Julius P. Manzano, Jr., challenged the participants to use their achievements as motivation to pursue greater goals beyond the campus competition. “Winning at the UniGames is an invitation to raise your standards for the regional games, and eventually to the national games, and if possible, to the ASEAN Games,” he said.

During the closing program, chosen student representatives from the participating colleges reflected on the challenges they overcame in their UniGames journeys. Among them is NJ Roben Asunto of the College of Teacher Education, who acknowledged that his “win is for everyone who never grew tired of believing in us.” Asunto clinched gold in Pop Solo.

The medal tally system, as explained by Prof. Ryan Dean Sucgang, Director of the MMSU Human Movement and Artistic Innovation Center, was applied again this year. It follows a system where there are no overall championship titles, similar to the system used in the State Colleges and Universities Athletic Association (SCUAA) and the Philippine Association of State Universities and Colleges (PASUC) regional and national meets. 

With the conclusion of this year’s UniGames, the university now looks forward to a better showing of its sports and cultural prowess at the regional and national levels of SCUAA and PASUC. 
 

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