Manila Water Company: Manila Water scores back-to-back victory in Ayala Olympics

Manila Water scores back-to-back victory in Ayala Olympics

Posted: Wednesday May 14, 2008

Manila Water Company, drawing strength from a balanced roster of talented and determined players, dominated the field in an overpowering show of athletic might to score a back-to-back overall victory in the Ayala Olympics at the Rizal Memorial Track and Football Stadium over the weekend.

The Balara-based squad won 15 of the 22 events disputed and set 11 new records in the quadrennial games to leave no doubt about its superiority over five other teams representing the Ayala Group of Companies’ major subsidiaries, including Ayala Corporation, Integrated Microelectronics Inc., Globe Telecom, Bank of the Philippine Islands and Ayala Land. Manila Water grabbed the day’s first seven events in runaway fashion and never let up en route to collecting a total of 319 points, a whopping 73 points ahead of the runner-up team’s 246 as it proved that its own dominant victory in 2004 was no fluke. In overwhelming the field this time, the Balara-based aggrupation swept all but 12 individual contests and failed to win a medal in only two events while accounting for 11 of the 14 records smashed in the competitions, a feat previously unheard-of in the history of the 18-year-old games. The two-time champion squad, the youngest among its counterparts at 10 years old, also produced the games’ most valuable players – Abraham Barcarse and Liza Yambao. Both standouts broke the record by a mile in their respective events, the 3.2 kilometer and 1.6 kilometer runs, as well as in the 800 meters to earn the honors.