Written by Siruis Moses Hechanova, Senior High School English Teacher
De La Salle Santiago Zobel School (DLSZ) participated in the recently concluded The World Scholar’s Cup Tournament of Champions, held at Yale University last November 8-13, 2019. The said tournament had two divisions, Junior and Senior. The divisions are based on the age groups—ages 11-14 for Juniors and ages 14-18 for Seniors.
DLSZ sent 30 students to compete and these students were divided per division. Five teams with three members each joined the Junior division and 5 teams with three members each also joined the Senior division. Junior division started on November 8 and ended on November 12, while Senior division started on November 9 and ended on November 13. Although both divisions had different schedules, both underwent the same program— Scholar’s Challenge, Scavenge Hunt, Scholar’s Debate, Scholar’s Bowl, Cultural Fair, and Scholar’s Ball.
Even though everyone competed in this competition for the first time and qualified from the previous rounds, Regional and Global rounds, the delegates still managed to bag medals.
Below are the lists of medals that each delegate has:
Junior Division:
1. Team 481 (17 Silver medals and 11 Gold medals)
- Bernice Meredith Zarzuela (DLSZ 2025) – Silver Team Challenge, Gold Debate Champions, Silver Team Bowl, Gold Writing Champions, Silver Medalist in Literature Challenge, Silver Medalist in History Challenge, Gold Medalist in Art Challenge, Silver Team Debate, Gold Team Writing, Gold Champion Scholars, Silver Champion Team, Top Scholar of DLSZ
- Axl Liam Gio Dominguez (DLSZ 2025) – Silver Team Challenge, Silver Team Bowl, Silver Medalist in Special Area Challenge, Silver Medalist in Social Studies Challenge, Gold Medalist in Science Challenge, Silver Team Debate, Gold Team Writing, Silver Champion Team
- Bjorn Isaac Escalona (DLSZ 2023) – Silver Team Challenge, Silver Debate Champions, Silver Team Bowl, Gold Writing Champions, Silver Medalist in Social Studies Challenge, Gold Medalist in Art Challenge, Silver Team Debate, Gold Team Writing, Silver Champion Team
2. Team 482 (6 Silver Medals)
- Julian Benedict Clemente (DLSZ 2024) – Silver Team Bowl
- Mary Angelie Nicole Cisnero (DLSZ 2024) – Silver Team Bowl
- Raine Louise Guarin (DLSZ 2024) – Silver Debate Champions, Silver Team Bowl, Silver Medalist in Special Area Challenge, Silver Medalist in Art Challenge
3. Team 483 (4 Silver medals, 1 Gold medal)
- Maureen Hermosa (DLSZ 2024) – Silver Medalist in Literature Challenge
- Ares Marthea Evenice Goyena (DLSZ 2024) – Silver Writing Champions, Silver Medalist in History Challenge, Gold Medalist in Art Challenge
- Kacey Faye Francesca Sumajit (DLSZ 2024) – Silver Da Vinci Award
4. Team 484 (3 Silver medals, 2 Gold medals)
- Angelica Grace Fuentes (DLSZ 2024) – Silver Debate Champions, Silver Writing Champions, Silver Medalist in History Challenge
- John Ezekiel Cariaga (DLSZ 2024) – Gold Da Vinci Award
- Jiya Racal (DLSZ 2024) – Gold Da Vinci Award
5. Team 485 (8 Silver medals, 3 Gold medals)
- Dominic Leo Ramos (DLSZ 2024) – Gold Debate Champions, Gold Writing Champions, Silver Medalist in History Challenge, Silver Team Debate, Silver Team Writing, Silver Champion Scholars
- Bianca Ysabel Roxas (DLSZ 2023) – Gold Writing Champions, Silver Team Debate, Silver Team Writing
- Julia Laylo (DLSZ 2023) – Silver Team Debate, Silver Team Writing
Total number of Silver medals: 38
Total number of Gold medals: 17
Senior Division
1. Team 734 (10 Silver medals, 4 Gold medals)
- Raphael Sabater (DLSZ 2022) – Gold Team Bowl, Silver Writing Champions, Silver Team Debate, Silver Team Writing
- Eidd Josef Tayag (DLSZ 2022) – Gold Debate Champions, Gold Team Bowl, Silver Writing Champions, Silver Team Debate, Silver Team Writing
- Laurence Christian Fernando (DLSZ 2024) – Gold Team Bowl, Silver Medalist in Literature Challenge, Silver Medalist in History Challenge, Silver Team Debate, Silver Team Writing
2. Team 735 (6 Silver medals, 3 Gold medals)
- Kyle Ysabelle Silva (DLSZ 2020) – Silver Debate Champions, Silver Writing Champions, Silver Medalist in Social Studies Challenge, Silver Team Writing
- Alexis Marie Barbatchano (DLSZ 2020) – Silver Team Writing
- Seung Won Kang (DLSZ 2020) – Gold Writing Champions, Gold Medalist in Art Challenge, Gold Medalist in History Challenge, Silver Team Writing
3. Team 736 (13 Silver medals, 12 Gold medals)
- Antonio Miguel Imperial (DLSZ 2020) – Silver Team Challenge, Silver Debate Champions, Silver Team Bowl, Silver Medalist in Science Challenge, Silver Medalist in Literature Challenge, Silver Medalist in History Challenge, Gold Medalist in Art Challenge, Gold Medalist in Social Studies Challenge, Gold Team Debate, Gold Team Writing
- Anne Claire Garalde (DLSZ 2020) – Silver Team Challenge, Gold Debate Champions, Silver Team Bowl, Gold Writing Champions, Gold Team Debate, Gold Team Writing
- Claudine Jerone Pulvera (DLSZ 2020) – Silver Team Challenge, Silver Debate Champions, Silver Team Bowl, Gold Writing Champions, Silver Medalist in Special Area Challenge, Silver Medalist in History Challenge, Gold Team Debate, Gold Team Writing, Top Scholar of DLSZ
4. Team 737 (3 Gold medals)
- Theresa Enrica Limgenco (DLSZ 2022) – Gold Debate Champions
- Hui Cao (DLSZ 2022) – Gold Da Vinci Award
- Seojin Lee (DLSZ 2022) – Gold Da Vinci Award
5. Team 738 (9 Silver medals, 4 Gold medals)
- Rachel Angelique Purisima (DLSZ 2021) – Silver Debate Champions, Silver Team Bowl, Gold Writing Champions, Silver Medalist in Special Area Challenge, Gold Team Writing
- Allaine Antoinette Panlilio (DLSZ 2021) – Silver Team Bowl, Silver Medalist in Special Area Challenge, Silver Medalist in History Challenge, Silver Medalist in Social Studies Challenge, Gold Team Writing
- Mariella Trovela (DLSZ 2023) – Silver Team Bowl, Silver Writing Champions, Gold Team Writing
Total number of Silver medals: 38
Total number of Gold medals: 26
Bernice Zarzuela (DLSZ 2025) was named as the Top Scholar of DLSZ for the junior division, while Claudine Jerone Pulvera (DLSZ 2020) was named as the Top Scholar of DLSZ for the senior division.
It was a wonderful experience for the DLSZ students considering the fact that all of them competed for the first time and stepped in the vicinity of Yale University for the first time as well. They did not just compete internationally, but also it became an avenue for them to dream big.
Indeed, WSC gave our students a total and holistic learning! Animo, La Salle!
