DANDAN Middle School capped the two-day PSS-McDonald’s All School Track and Field SY2024-25 Championships on top, claiming their third consecutive boys’ middle school team title with a total of 190 points at the Oleai Sports Complex on Saturday.
Saipan International School clinched the remaining three team championships.
SIS bagged the girls middle school team title with a total of 134 points followed by DMS with 61, and Tinian Jr./Sr. High School with 50.
SIS also took the girls high school team championship with 129 points, beating ACS with 116, and Marianas High School with 45.
In the boys high school team championship, SIS came out on top with 76 points followed by ACS with 67, and MHS with 64.
Strong performances
DMS participated in most — if not all — events throughout the season, but it was their strong performances in the throwing and long-distance events that solidified their spot at the top.
In the boys 14U throwing events, DMS’ Kaleb Reyes and Kunni Cepeda reigned supreme.
Reyes led the javelin event, throwing an impressive distance of 34.74m to claim gold followed by schoolmate Cepeda (29.03m) for silver and Agape Christian School’s Tom Chen (28.54m) for bronze.
Reyes’ second gold medal came in the discus event, where he recorded a distance of 36.1m — over six meters farther than the competition.
Taking silver was Peter Camacho of Tanapag Middle School (29.72m), while Kody Mendiola of Rota Dr. Rita Hocog Inos Jr./Sr. High School earned bronze with a throw of 25.87m.
Joining the highlight reel was DMS’ Cepeda who won gold in the shotput event, throwing a distance of 11.18m while TMS’ Camacho (9.98m) settled for silver and DMS’ Francisco Whitman (9.48m) earned bronze.
DMS also thrived in the long-distance events. Jacob Encabo finished the 3000m race nearly 20 seconds ahead of the competition with a time of 11:38.36 to secure gold while Chacha Ocean View Middle School’s Kyle Naputi (11:56.22) bagged silver and DMS’ Yuxi Lu (12:10.58) settled for bronze.
Encabo clinched his second gold in the 1500m distance where he finished first with a time of 6:54.69 followed by DMS’ Dylan Hofschneider (7:00.87) for silver and COVMS’ Teovanie Dela Cruz (7:07.36) for bronze.
DMS exceeded expectations as a team, claiming the boys’ 14U team championship with 190 points. Hopwood Middle School followed with 45 points, while COVMS finished third with 29 points.
“It feels great to win again! It’s amazing to see the progress of our students over the past few months. We are proud of our…athletes, and it translated well into championships,” said DMS co-coach Simon Necesito. “Everyone performed well and even exceeded expectations. Securing a three-peat for DMS is an amazing accomplishment and we hope that it inspires them to continue to build interest in track and field going into the high school level the same way it did with our former students.”
Co-coach Jeri May Tudela said “team effort made this possible. We are thankful to our [school] administration and Northern Marianas Athletics for allowing us to train after school at the track so that students were able to get a feel of the events before attempting to do it. We always believe that starting early before the qualifiers allows our athletes to familiarize the lay of the land.”
Tudela added, “Special thanks to the parents and our fellow coaches Jemma Manibo and Ricky Santiago for their support towards our track and field team, Rep. Vince Camacho for donating refreshments and water for championships, DMS [Student Council Advisory Panel] and administration! Thank you all!”
Runners push through the finish line in the girls 14U 400m event of the PSS-McDonald’s All School Track and Field SY24-25 at the Oleai Sports Complex on Saturday.
Photo by James F. Sablan Jr.
A runner takes the lead in the boys 14U 1500m distance of the PSS-McDonald’s All School Track and Field SY24-25 at the Oleai Sports Complex on Saturday.
Photo by James F. Sablan Jr.
