By Haidee C. Pineda, image by Leonardo A. Reyes

(MAY 18)—The UP Varsity Pep Squad (Pep) once again brought glory to UP as they placed 2nd in the cheerleading small group stunts mixed category at the 9th Cheerleading Asia International Open Championships (CAIOC).

CAIOC was held at Yoyogi National Stadium in Tokyo, Japan from May 9 to 10. It is an annual competition organized by the Japan Cheerleading Association in 2007.

This year, eight countries participated in the competition: Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand.

Representing Team Philippines were contingents from the UP Diliman, Miriam College and University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P).

Pep members who joined the competition were Francesca Abueg, Jari Buenaventura, Chelsea Cacho, Leandro de Chavez, Elijah del Rosario, Joseph Guevara, Marco Montenegro, Kim Parra, Fae Pascua, Jose Mari Planes and Gerard Sison under the guidance of assistant coaches Niño Jose Antonio and Suyin Chua.

Antonio said they were chosen to participate in the CAIOC after winning in the national competitions organized by the Cheerleading Pilipinas Federation such as the Philippine National Games and Women’s National Collegiate Athletic Association.

He said CAIOC has five categories: cheerleading, cheerleading all-female small group stunts, cheerleading small group stunts mixed, cheerleading doubles and cheerdance.

The UP Pep Squad competed in the small group mixed and cheerleading doubles while the contingent from Miriam College vied for the cheerleading and all-female group stunts and UA&P for the cheerdance category.

The Pep presented their trophy and certificate to Chancellor Michael L. Tan in a courtesy call on May 12 at the Office of the Chancellor in Quezon Hall.