Middle school students make their way through the CPA Airport Field during the PSS/NMA All School Cross Country SY 23-24 on Saturday.
SAIPAN International School runners off to a strong start, taking the lead in almost all categories on the opening day of the PSS/NMA All School Cross Country SY23-24 Saturday at the CPA Airport Field.
In the elementary school category, SIS topped the boys and girls divisions.
SIS led the team standings with 20 points followed by Brilliant Star School with 38 points, San Vicente Elementary School with 56 points, Mount Carmel School with 61 points, Oleai Elementary School with 76 points, and Gregorio T. Camacho Elementary School with 111 points.
In cross country, the team with the lowest total score tops the meet.
The boys were led by SIS’ Gabriel Walsh who finished first at 07:36 followed by Grace Christian Academy’s Beau Bauer in second with a time of 07:37, and SIS’ Ezra West in third with a time of 07:42.
SIS also led the girls division with a total of 17 points followed by Brilliant Star School with 38 points, Mount Carmel School with 40 points, Oleai Elementary School with 59 points, and San Vicente Elementary School with 86 points.
Leading the girls division was BSS’ Lovell Spaeth with a time of 07:48. SIS’ Kaylen Taflinger came in second with a time of 08:08 while BSS’ Lucy Thomson finished third with a time of 08:23.
Middle schools
In the middle school category, MCS and SIS claimed the boys and girls divisions, respectively.
Among the individual runners, SIS’ Quido Jambor finished first with a time of 13:46 while GCA’s Kazuki Kamagai came in second at 15:26. In third place was Dandan Middle School’s Yuxi Lu with a time of 15:51.
In the girls division, SIS earned another spotlight in first place with 14 points followed by GCA with 34 points, DMS with 46 points and Saipan Community School with 48 points.
SIS’ Adalee Taflinger led the pact with a finish time of 14:47 followed by schoolmate Leilani Ruszala with a time of 16:20, and GCA’s Sarah Lim with a time of 17:24.
High schools
In the High School category, Marianas High School and SIS were dominant.
The boys division was led by MHS with 13 team points followed by SIS with 46 points, Saipan Southern High School with 53 points, and MCS with 53 points.
MHS’ Pony Tang led with a time of 18:24 while SSHS’ Simon Tang was second with a time of 18:30, and SSHS’ Anthony Bergancia was third with a time of 18:48.
In the girls division, SIS led the standings with 12 points followed by MHS with 27 points.
SIS’ Kaithlyn Chavez led the individual standings with a finish time of 21:01 followed by KHS’ Pia Ngewakiwith with a time of 23:59 and SIS’ Aubrey Castro with a time of 25:08.
Despite the weather, it was a great turnout, according to meet director Dr. Ron Snyder. “Saturday was a windy, rainy day. It was great for a cross country race, but I expected it to dissuade some athletes from showing up. I was blown away when we had more than 200 runners.”
He added, “This is a testament to how the sport is developing and the demand for competitive athletics in the CNMI. This will be an exciting season with lots of fierce competition between many school teams.”
