MCS Showcases Excellence in RCAMES Sports Festival 2024

Malate Catholic School showcases its excellence with awards brought home from the RCAMES Sports Festival 2024 held on April 03-05, 2024 with the theme “Unity in Motion, Synodality in Action.”

Written by: Lorrieza Jhoilyn Punzalan, Andrew Natividad, and Aira Mae Lao 

Layout by: Beatrice Ann Salvacion and Francheska Shieniah Rayne Mercado

April 10, 2024 | 3:30 P.M.

Day 1 - April 03, 2024

MCS Phoenix student-athletes competed on the first day of RCAM-Wide at San Felipe Neri Catholic School (SFNCS). U13 players participated in Volleyball, Table Tennis, and Chess on the first day, while all categories competed in the Swimming games.

The MCS Phoenix student-athletes departed from the MCS Campus at 6:30 am and arrived at SFNCS at around 7:20 am. A band greeted them, and students performed folk dances on the school grounds. The student-athletes stayed on the 5th floor to have breakfast before the Mass.

As they entered the gymnasium, the speakers introduced each cluster along with its corresponding colors;

Blue Team - Clusters 2 and 8

Yellow Team - Cluster 1 and 7

Red Team - Cluster 5 and 6 

Green Team - Cluster 3 and 4

Archbishop of Manila, His Eminence Jose F. Cardinal Advincula presided over the mass. In his Homily, Cardinal Advincula told the athletes to appreciate their bodies as blessings from God. After the mass, they conducted a photo opportunity, followed by a break during which different performers had their intermissions.

The Opening Ceremony started with the singing of the National Anthem and Welcoming Remarks. An athlete's prayer was also made and all student-athletes participated in praying.

Following these events were the important parts such as the lighting of the Torch, Raising of Banners, Ceremonial Toss, and finally, the Declaration of the Opening of the Sports Fest. 

Before the program ended, SFNCS students performed a flash mob. The games started at 1 pm after the players had their lunch break. 

Swimming

The swimming competition took place in the 6th-floor swimming pool area. 

Hannah Mabulay (U17) competed in 25m breaststroke where she got disqualified due to her goggles falling off mid-swim and stopping to fix it.

Sean Encarnacion (U19) competed in both 25m and 50m male breaststroke. In the 25m breaststroke, Encarnacion and his competitors came close to each other. In the 50m breaststroke, he secured a gold since there were no other competitors.

Athena Bagas (U13) competed in freestyle, both 25m and 50m, where she clinched two silver medals.

Table Tennis 

The table tennis competition took place on the 9th floor Gaudium Building. The first day focused on the U13 players. 

Leeuwen Mendoza scored 3 wins and 0 losses. Enming Wan, tied with Mendoza with the same standing. The scores secured the spot for silver and gold for MCS Phoenix Boys’ Singles. For Girls’ Singles, Hanako Takahashi scored 1 win and 2 losses.

Chess

The chess games took place at the 3rd-floor library. The organizers started with the rules and guidelines. 

Players participated in the games round by round. MCS Phoenix U13 chess players obtained 5 wins and 7 losses from different students resulting in 3rd place.

One player from MCS, De Jesus, would receive a special award as he got no losses from any of his rounds.

Volleyball

The Volleyball games took place on the ground floor of SFNCS. The first day focused on the U13 players from different clusters. MCS Phoenix U13 Volleyball Girls stands with 0 wins and 2 losses. Their first opponents were the Clusters 1 and 7, the Yellow team, and their last opponents for the day were Clusters 5 and 6, the Red team.

The MCS Phoenix U13 Volleyball Boys, on the other hand, stands with 2 wins and 0 losses. Their first opponents were the Red team and the last game for that day was against the Yellow team.

Day 2 - April 04, 2024

Volleyball

The Malatean Phoenix U19 Girls Volleyball Team started the tournament against the Clusters 3 and 4, the Green Team. Facing a loss of 0-2 sets, both scoring 8-25. Soon after, they faced Clusters 1 and 7, the Yellow Team, losing 0-2 sets with scores of 20-25.

In their last match against the Red team that represented Clusters 5 and 6, the girls gave their all and made sure to win. After facing two difficult opponents consecutively, the volleyball team didn’t lose hope and still performed at their best. 

Aiming for the third place, they won a 2-0 sweep against the Reds, both scoring 25-23. After their victory, Coach John Osmeña gave his speech, saying, “‘Yon ang laro niyo. ‘Yon ang nagpapanalo sa inyo. [That's your game. That's what made you win.]” With this victory, the Phoenix ended with a 1-2 standing, earning 3rd place.

Table Tennis

For table tennis, the team first competed against the Red team where Alcaeus Liwanag and Perry Alcala both lost 0-2 (Liwanag 8-11, 10-12, Alcala 2-11, 3-11) in the Boys’ Singles category. In the Girls’ Singles category, Saiki Carida won 2-0 sets, scoring 11-5, 13-11. Luke Neri and Roman Delos Santos also won 2-0 in the boys’ doubles category, scoring 11-6, 11-7. 

Then, they competed against the Yellow team, where Alcala and Liwanag of the Boys’ Singles both lost 0-2 (Alcala 8-11, 9-11, Liwanag 9-11, 7-11), as well as Neri and Delos Santos of the Boys’ Doubles (3-11, 5-11). In the Girls’ Singles, on the other hand, Carida won a deuce in the first set, scoring 12-10, and the second set with a score of 11-4 after a 5-0 run.

Lastly, they battled against the Green team, where Alcala lost 0-2 (7-11, 9-11) and Liwanag lost 1-2 (11-8, 5-11, 8-11). Neri and Delos Santos’ match was declared default due to the opponents being absent at the time. Due to this, all three participants in the Boys’ Doubles category are tied 1-1 and will once again compete on the following day.

For Girls’ Singles, Saiki Carida’s match was postponed due to an issue with the opponent’s paddle. When the match was in play, Carida lost the first set with 3-11. The second set resulted in a 10-12 score, earning a 2-1 standing and a place in the championship, competing against the same opponent.

Badminton

Alfonso Madali, representing the U19 Boys’ Singles, played an exciting match against his opponents. Even though he lost 0-3 matches, he gave a great performance, which gave a close match to each opponent.

Day 3 - April 05, 2024

All players left MCS at 5:30 AM and arrived at San Felipe Neri Catholic School (SFNCS), Mandaluyong at 6:10 AM. As it was the last day, a Holy Eucharistic Celebration was held at 7:47 AM at the gymnasium of SFNCS. 

After the Mass, each cluster went back to their respective assigned classrooms and prepared for the remaining games.

The last few games of volleyball and table tennis were held at SFNCS, whilst the championship games for badminton were held at Jaime Cardinal Sin Learning Center. 

At 4 PM, the championship for the U13 Boys’ volleyball began. It was MCS Phoenix U13 boys against Clusters 3 and 4, the green team. The first set resulted in a 25-16 score, a win for MCS Phoenix. The second set was a close tie with the loss at 25-22. The third set decided it all, with the loss of MCS Phoenix at 25-24, earning them the silver medal. 

After the championship of U13 Boys’ volleyball at 5 PM, the closing ceremony was held at 5:50 PM once again at the gymnasium. The Masters of Ceremonies for the event were Mr. Jay-Ar Ortiz and Mrs. Milani Dela Cruz-Fabellon.

For all the sports, MCS brought home awards, showcasing that Malateans truly do hold great talent and skill. 

The following are the winners for each sport and category:

Volleyball

U17 Girls’ Volleyball - Bronze 

U13 Boys’ Volleyball - Silver 

Badminton 

U13 Boys’ Singles:

Ramon Lagos - Bronze

U13 Girls’ Singles:

Maia Panem - Champion

U13 Boys’ Doubles:

Daniel Joseph Atabay and Ezekiel Tobias - Champion

U13 Girls’ Doubles:

Rahmah Jlood and Adriel Tamara San Juan - Champion

Table Tennis

High School Division Girls’ Singles:

Saiki Carida - Bronze

High School Division Boys’ Doubles:

Luke Patrick Neri and Roman Delos Santos - Bronze

Grade School Division Boys’ Singles:

Leeuwen James Mendoza - Champion

Enming Wan - Silver

Hanako Takahashi - Bronze

Swimming

U19 Breaststroke 25 and 50m:

Sean Andrei Encarnacion - Champion

U13 Freestyle 25 and 50m:

Athena Bagas - Silver

Chess

Marcus Aeron De Jesus - Special Award (For no losses)

U13 Chess Team - Silver

At 7 PM the players went back home via school services and arrived at MCS at 8 PM. 

The 3 days were a tough battle, but the MCS players faced them with courage, confidence, and faith showcasing the true excellence of MCS with the results.