The teams of Agape Christian School pose for a photo during the awards ceremony of the McDonald’s-PSS All School Track & Field (Athletics) SY23-24 at the Oleai Sports Complex on Saturday.
An ACS runner is about to hand the baton to his teammate in the boys high school division’s 4×400 event of the McDonald’s-PSS All School Track & Field (Athletics) SY23-24 at the Oleai Sports Complex on Saturday.
AGAPE Christian School successfully defended its high school division titles in the McDonald’s-PSS All School Track and Field (Athletics) SY23-24, which concluded Saturday at the Oleai Sports Complex.
For the past several years, ACS has been dominant in the boys high school division, and although they again retained their title, this year proved to be one of the toughest for the defending champs.
Where ACS continues to shine the brightest is in the long-distance events.
The 1500m event tests not only the physical capabilities but the mental fitness of a competitor. ACS’ Jireh Wang was the first to cross the finish line with a time of 4:34.04. In second and third places were Marianas High School’s Michael Miller and Takeru Jim at 4:40.90 and 4:49.53, respectively. They were followed by ACS’ James Fan (4:52.36), Daniel Song (5:05.31), and Allen Yu (5:05.99).
Wang also excelled in the 3000m distance, finishing first with a time of 10:03.62 followed by MHS’ Miller at 10:23.94, and ACS’ Fan at 10:24.84.
In the 800m, Wang (2:12.30), Fan (2:18.33), Caleb Cui (2:20.34) and Daniel Song (2:20.89) were among the top five finishers. First place went to Cody Shimizu from MHS with a time of 2:11.47.
In the 4x100m and 4x400m events, ACS finished first with a time of 49.29 and 4:01.72, respectively.
ACS led the high school boys division with a total of 90 points followed by MHS with 86, Kagman High School with 79, Grace Christian Academy with 32, Tinian Jr./Sr, High School with 29, Saipan Southern High School with 26, Saipan International School with 24, and Mount Carmel with 2.
Girls division
ACS also clinched first place in the girls high school division with a total of 149 points.
Although they did not place first in most events, the girls of ACS still managed to rack up points.
ACS topped the discus throw, thanks to Silvia Zucca who won the gold with a distance of 23.69m. TIN’s Abbygaile Ong came in second with 22.10m, ACS’ Esther Zhao and Iris Chen were third and fourth with 21.35m and 19.82m, respectively.
Zucca earned a silver in the shot put event with a distance of 7.83m followed by Zhao with 7.73m, and Elim Huang with 6.75m. GCA’s Azriel Fatiolofa won the gold with a distance of 8.74m.
ACS also bagged another gold in the 4x400m event with a time of 5:13.15, beating their only other competitor, MHS, which clocked 5:34.64.
In the long-distance events, ACS gathered additional points. The 1500m distance was led by SIS’ Kaithlyn Chavez with a stunning finish time of 5:42.57, but ACS’ Barbara Wang came in second at 6:12.74 while teammates Lucy Hong (6:26.86), Emma Pang (6:41.76), and Eunice Wu (6:48.75) also contributed points as they made it into the top six.
Placing in nearly every event, ACS secured the overall title by more than the proverbial mile, garnering a total of 149 points followed by SSHS with 56, SIS with 48, MHS with 39, TIN with 28, KHS with 20, and GCA with 12.
ACS’s coach, Pastor Kok Pang, noted that their boys team has successfully won the title for over five years now while the girls have recorded their fourth consecutive title.
“Well, we believe that education is not just about studying,” he said. “A lot of the times, the physical part is lacking, but we believe physical training for students is important. We have a good program. Sports give the students confidence as well as coordination. We believe in the saying, ‘No pain, no gain.’ ”
Pang extended his gratitude to Northern Marianas Athletics, the Public School System, McDonald’s Saipan and all the supporters of the All School Track & Field (Athletics) program.
