Xavier to unveil chronicle on school’s sports success

MANILA — For many years now, Xavier has become the top high school sports program that is neither a part of the NCAA nor the UAAP.

And come 2019, the school’s success will be commemorated through a coffee table book.

Entitled “Golden: A Celebration of the Xavier Golden Stallions”, the book will highlight some of the best moments in the academe’s athletic programs.

“Hindi tayo Wikipedia. Hindi tayo encyclopedia. Rather, [it’s] a celebration,” Rick Olivares, the principal writer of the book, said during the media launch of the book right inside the Xavier campus in San Juan City on Monday.

Among those to be highlighted aside from Xavier’s championship runs in the Metro Manila Tiong Lian Basketball Association and in other leagues are behind-the-scene stories of players and coaches even from other sports like football and badminton.

In fact, Philippine badminton legend Kennevic Asuncion, a proud alumnus of Xavier, Gue David, who helped bolster the school’s football program, and current Ateneo Blue Eagles Isaac Go and Tyler Tio, who were both part of the school’s last Tiong Lian squad in 2014, also graced the event.

Also according to Olivares, the development of the book is at the early stages so far, although he has already lined up some more former Golden Stallions for interview like Joseph Yeo and the Teng Brothers, whose younger sibling Jeron became popular for dropping the Philippine national record of 104 points in a single game.