The UST Salinggawi Dance Troupe bagged the bronze medal in the UAAP Season 86 Cheerdance Competition on Saturday, Dec. 2, at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Geared with a BLACKPINK-inspired theme, Salinggawi notched a final score of 684 points to secure a place in the podium for the second straight year.

The FEU pep squad captured the cheerdance crown with 702.5 points, while the NU pep squad took silver with 697 points.

UST had the most penalties among all squads, coughing up 15 penalty points.

But, head coach Mark Chaiwalla has no regrets with their executions throughout their routines.

"After the performance, that sayang na feeling was out of the window. What matters at this point was seeing them they're safe and they're really happy with their performance," said Chaiwalla on the team's errors.

Salinggawi came in marching to the mat, flaunting their bright pink props before executing in-sync tumblings and stunts to the tune of BLACKPINK songs.

A failed pyramid formation then halted what was a relatively clean execution for Salinggawi, which ended with a spelled-out UST pose.

Salinggawi topped the dance facet of the competition with 374 points followed by eventual champion FEU with 364.5 markers.

"Being a dance troupe as our origin, we made sure that that dance element would not go away," said Chaiwalla. "Basta hindi naman 'yan pinapabayaan."

The Adamson Soaring Falcons finished just shy of the podium, while UP Pep Squad took the fifth spot.