GOAL

Booters lead ASHOF inductees

DT · Sep 8, 2026, 3:23 AM

FOOTBALL legends will be honored as they get enshrined in the Ateneo Sports Hall of Fame this month. — Photograph courtesy of ATENEO

Football greats headlined the newest batch of inductees to the Ateneo Sports Hall of Fame (ASHOF) who will be enshrined later this month.

The ASHOF announced the Class of 2026 last Sunday during the blessing of the Gallery of Excellence at the Blue Eagle Gym. The latest group included former University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) champions, record-holders, Most Valuable Players, national team players, and coaches who helped build Ateneo's legacy across several sports.

Leading the class are football standouts Mark Allan Ramos, Ramon Espejo Jr., Domeka Gaizka Garamendi, Paolo Antonio G. Aquino, Juan Paolo Pajarito Buendia, Joseph Vincent B. Santos and Rely San Agustin.

Espejo and Garamendi were part of Ateneo's 1995 and 1998 championship teams and earned individual UAAP honors, with Espejo winning the 1998 UAAP MVP award and Garamendi taking Best Goal Scorer honors that same year.

Margarita Bonifacio, meanwhile, became only the second female in the Hall of Fame after a decorated taekwondo career highlighted by three UAAP gold medals, a pair of Southeast Asian Games bronze medals, and an Asian Games bronze medal in Bangkok back in 1998.