After settling only for back-to-back runner-up finishes in the past two seasons, FEU banked on a clean choreography and high level of difficulty stunts en route to ending their 13-year title drought and denying the National University’s (NU) three-year title bid.

The Morayta-based squad dominated the stats sheet with a total of 727.5 points highlighted by its energetic performance full of tightly-structured pyramids, and solid tosses and tumbles.

“We’ve been runner-up for the past years. Finally, we won a title. The preparation was so hard. 15 people and three minutes. If six minutes was short, what more for this three-minute performance,” said FEU head coach Randell San Gregorio in Filipino.

“But we’re just so happy that we finally got over the hump. We are really going to treasure this first one for us,” added San Gregorio, who added one championship to his stack of three first runner-up finishes since he started in 2015.

Meanwhile, the 2017 champion, Adamson PEP Squad, racked on a country music-inspired theme, resorting to “Take Me Home, Country Roads” and “5, 6, 7, 8” en route to its second-place finish with a score of 688.5 points.

Two-time defending champion NU Pep Squad brought a 1990s rewind-themed performance and settled for third place with 681 points.

University of Santo Tomas’ (UST) Salinggawi Dance Troupe, despite nine penalties, clinched fourth place followed by the University of the East (UE) in fifth.

UP settled for 6th place with its Gangnam style-inspired routine, while De La Salle University (DLSU) and Ateneo De Manila University (ADMU) placed 7th and 8th, respectively.

The UAAP CDC returned to action for the first time since 2019, but routines only ran for only two-and-a-half minutes to three minutes, far from six minutes in previous years, and were limited to 15 performers without the presence of the drummers.