By Aljon P. Tugaoen

In the highly-spirited Unigames closing ceremonies at the university oval this evening, October 7, Mariano Marcos State University declared the College of Engineering Fighting Maroons as the 2022 University Games champion, capturing their 8th straight medal-hauling rally.

Emerging on top among the eight competing colleges, the Fighting Maroons dominated with 51.34 points, placing 1st in sports and 3rd in culture and arts contests.

In the 2nd spot is the College of Teacher Education (CTE) Rabbis with 40.66 points. The Laoag-based college is back-to back champion in the culture and arts events.

The College of Industrial Technology (CIT) Red Lions earned 36.25 points gaining the 3rd place while the College of Business, Economics and Accountancy (CBEA) Eagles earned the 4th spot with 32.74 points.

Settling at fifth place, the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) Wizards snagged 29.91 points.

Completing the tally from 6th place to last are the College of Agriculture, Food and Sustainable Development (CAFSD) Tamaraws (29.52), College of Health Sciences (CHS) Knights (17.93), and College of Aquatic Sciences and Applied Technology (CASAT) Blue Marlins (6.82).

In the overall ranking, 70% came from the sports events while the remaining 30% was obtained from the culture and arts contests.

Winning athletes and artists are bound to the State Colleges and Universities Athletic Association (SCUAA)-1 Meet and the Philippine Association of State Universities and Colleges (PASUC)-1 Culture and the Arts Festival in Pangasinan State University in November. MMSU will take a shot for an 18th overall championship in the regional meet.

As MMSU continues to bask in its glory in both sports and cultural events in the region, MMSU President Shirley C. Agripus urged the athletes, artists, and coaches to strive hard in defending the university’s championship in SCUAA-1 and PASUC-1.

"We want to level up every year and it has been a tradition in MMSU to never settle for less,” PSCA said.

“The more we add more championship trophies to our belt, the more we want to empower our representatives for the regional and national levels,” PSCA said, lauding the dedication of Center for Human Movement Studies (CHuMS), the Office for Student Affairs and Services, the University Student Council, college student leaders, coaches, trainers, and support staff in the sports, culture and arts contests for the ‘display of willpower and team spirit.’

CHuMS director Rowel Tagatac shared his elation in rekindling the camaraderie of all the colleges as this is a unifying formula in continuing the decades-long greatness of MMSU in said competitions.

"Our selection for this year's MMSU representatives was very critical in our bid to remain as the region's best," said Tagatac.

CTE’s Michael Christophe Agustin and CBEA’s Lucky Charm Palting were selected as the MMSU’s representatives for Mr. & Miss PASUC-1, respectively, in a closed-door selection on Tuesday.

This year’s UniGames edition saw around fifteen thousand filling the MMSU sports complex after a three-year halt due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (HLY/JVBT, StratCom)