Banzon brothers named to DLSU Sports of Fame

BROTHERS Jomari, Rene and Greg Banzon, former athletics stalwarts in the 1980s, will be inducted to the De La Salle Sports Hall of Fame at the biennial One La Salle Night of Excellence recognition rites honoring outstanding alumni.

This will be the first time in its long history that three brothers will be inducted to the university’s Hall of Fame at the same time.

“We are very grateful for this recognition. We are proud to have brought glory to De La Salle. We are also thankful to our mom and dad, Merced and Leonardo Banzon, for being part of our athletic journey. They were always present to motivate and cheer us on during competitions,” Greg Banzon said.

As De La Salle athletes from 1977 to 1985, the Banzon brothers’ stellar athletic career started in grade school when they became varsity runners under coach Mar Lamigo. They then progressed to La Salle Greenhills as members of the junior National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) varsity team where the school’s fabled training system under multi-champion coach Antonio “Tatang” Mendoza served as the foundation of the brothers’ athletic development.

They joined the track team together, excelling especially in the 400m, 800m, 1,500m and 3,000m distances.

Individually, they have set their own records and conferred most valuable player honors multiples times. Collectively, they brought a total of 58 medals for De La Salle, 33 of which were gold.

Jomari is now the chief executive officer of SMDC, Rene a senior executive of the Gokongwei group’s airline company focused on aircraft maintenance and Greg, the youngest, is the chief operating officer of Century Pacific Food Inc.

Other inductees to the Hall of Fame are Renren Ritualo for basketball, Ira Flores for baseball, Alvin Ocampo for football, Edwin Reyes for sports management and Rep. Mikee Romero for Philippine basketball development.