A special award to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and citations to 18 personalities and entities will be handed out in the San Miguel Corporation-Philippine Sportswriters Association (SMC-PSA) Awards Night slated next week at the Centennial Hall of the Manila Hotel.

The country’s “Grand Old League” is being recognized by the country’s oldest media organization for reaching a great milestone of celebrating its 100th season as one of the country’s cradle of sporting heroes.

Meanwhile, the dragon boat national team, Philippine Volcanoes, weightlifter Angeline Colonia, jiu jitsu bet Isabella Joseline Butler, powerlifter Regie Ramirez, and grand slam winner Creamline are some of last year’s achievers to be cited in the 27 January grand affair co-presented by ArenaPlus, Cignal and MediaQuest.

Gymnastics wonder boy Carlos Yulo leads the 2024 honor roll as the deserving choice as Athlete of the Year.

Backed by the Philippine Sports Commission, Philippine Olympic Committee, Philippine Olympic Committee, MILO, PLDT/Smart, Senator Bong Go and Januarius Holdings, with support provided by the PBA, PVL, 1-Pacman Party List, Rain or Shine, Akari and AcroCity, 12 others will be cited by the country’s sports writing community for their respective achievements in the year just passed.

The list includes Johann Chua and Albert James “AJ” Manas (billiards), Carl Eldrew Yulo (gymnastics), Ruelle Canino (chess), Kheith Rhynne Cruz (table tennis), Marc Dylan Custodio (bowling), Mark John Lexer Galedo (cycling), Lovely Inan (weightlifting), Philippine baseball team, Centennial 7 (sailing) and Jessa Mae Tabuan (powerlifting).

The Filipino paddlers had a dominant performance in the ICF Dragon Boat World Championship in Puerto Princesa, Palawan where they emerged overall champion, while the Philippine Volcanoes scored a twin kill in the men’s and women’s division of the Asia Rugby Emirates Sevens Trophy in Nepal.

Gymnastics wonder boy Carlos Yulo leads the 2024 honor roll as the deserving choice as Athlete of the Year.

Colonia bagged gold medals in the snatch and total lift in the 45-kilogram class of the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) World Junior Championships in Spain, Butler did the same in the 18-under -57kg class of the JJIF World Championships in Heraklion Greece, and Ramirez along with Tabuan also went home with gold medals in their respective campaigns in the World Open Equipped Powerlifting Championships in Iceland and World Juniors Powerlifting Championships in Malta.

The Cool Smashers underscored their dominance as the top women’s volleyball team in the country by sweeping all three tournaments of the Premier Volleyball League while Yulo had another fruitful gold harvest in the Men’s Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Uzbekistan, the Pacific Rim Championship in Cali, Colombia and Hong Kong Invitational.