Hopwood Junior High School students Braylan Floresca and Mikayla Lopez dominated the 14-and-under category, with the former coming in first at 13 minutes and 57 seconds. Kelvin Deleon Guerrero trailed Floresca by 16 seconds while Vinnie Inos came third at 14:38.
Fellow Hilitai Shanthia Espinosa came next to Lopez in the girls’ category, timing in at 18:59. Khim Sanarez placed third with 26:53.
Students from Saipan Community School also excelled in the U8 and U10 groups. Completing the U8 boys division’s top three were Ken Song (7:52), Derrick Seo (9:25), and Jeffrey Seo (12:01). Lone female runner Tori Camacho arrived after Jeffrey Seo, timing in at 12 minutes and 18 seconds.
The 10U group consisted of all-male runners, with SCS’ Nael Lim finishing first at 7:38. Haruy Eda came next to Lim at eight minutes and seven seconds. Garapan Elementary School’s Noel Carera reached the finish line at 8:25, putting him in third place.
12U boys category, Whispering Palms School’s Danny Auther was pushed to third place by Hopwood’s Berneil Taisacan (6:31) and Nelton Skerei (6:35).
Maddie Santos won first in the 12U girls division, followed by Hopwood’s Xena Xu and Renita Kaipat.
The cross country championship is scheduled for Nov. 13 and is eligible only to students who took part in one of the past qualifiers.
Runners may register in U8, U10, U12, U14, and U18 boys and girls categories. Participating schools may race in the team event, but must have a minimum of five males and five females. Medals and trophies will be awarded to top three teams and individuals from each category.
