SAIPAN International School and Agape Christian School dominated the NMA-PSS All School Cross Country 2022 series, winning team titles Saturday morning at the Saipan Vegas Country Club.
This year’s finale was like none other as the students did not just challenge each other, but the weather as well. The constant rain doused the course and created extra elements such as mud and a slippery path.
High schools
In the high school category, SIS led the girls division with 14 points.
Cross country is similar to golf in that the lowest score wins.
SIS’ Kaithlyn Chavez led the pack with a time of 22’12 followed by teammate Tiana Cabrera with a time of 23’54. Serin Chung and Aubrey Castro came in sixth and seventh places at 25’26 and 26’37.
In second place was ACS with a total of 25 team points while Saipan Southern High School came in third with 73 points.
In the boys division, ACS dominated with a total team points of 17.
ACS’ Samuel Zhu was the first to cross the finish line at 19’55 while team mates Daniel Li (20’43) and Enoch Zhuang (20’52) came in fourth and fifth and Allen Luo (21’08) finished seventh.
MHS settled for second place with a total of 29 team points followed by Mount Carmel School in third with 70 points.
Middle schools
In the middle school category, ACS ruled both divisions.
In the girls division, ACS’ Barbara Wang was first with a time of 11’46 followed by Lucy Hong (12’26), May Kim (13’45) and Susie Zheng (14’00). ACS led the standings with 20 team points followed by SIS with 23 points and Saipan Community School with 41 points.
In in the boys division, ACS’ Raffy Cai was number one with a time of 10’15 followed by Daniel Song (10’30), Daniel Yang (10’35) and James Fan YQ (10’40).
ACS was way ahead in the team standings with 18 points while Dandan Middle School took second place with 49 points and Hopwood Middle School was third 68 points.
Elementary schools
SIS claimed both divisions of the elementary school category.
In the girls division, Scarlett Burrell led her team with a time of 11’41 with Leilani Ruszala (12’12) Windsor Gross (12’37) and Neveah Arriola (13’32) right behind.
SIS garnered a total of 16 points to claim first place followed by Oleai Elementary School with 44 points and Brilliant Star School with 69 points.
In the boys division, SIS’ Quido Jambor took the spotlight with a first-place finish at 11’15 followed by Gabriel (12’19), Jake Duenas (13’08) and Ezra West (13’08).
SIS led the team standings with 25 points followed by ACS with 44 and Brilliant Star with 46.
Amazing
“This year’s championship meet was amazing and a great cap to an amazing season that saw four different meets, hosted by four different groups at four different parts of the island — it was amazing for our young runners to see different parts of Saipan,” said the lead coordinator of the cross country series, SIS Headmaster Dr. Ron Snyder.
“The championship was cross country at its finest,” he added. “The course at Saipan Vegas Country Club was beautiful. But the heavy rain was what made it truly special. I once heard cross country described as ‘an exercise in pain management.’ There is definitely an element of that to distance running in general and cross country in particular.”
Snyder said “to be successful in cross country, runners learn to push themselves to overcome their limitations. When the weather gets bad, some people give up. But the cross country runner learns to embrace it. And that is where many of our runners were this weekend.”
He noted that “after a very difficult run, instead of scurrying away to the shelter of a tent or rushing home, a lot of the runners rushed back to the course, sliding through the temporary streams and ponds that formed on the course. By the time the elementary runners were up, they had to slog through low laying areas that were filled with water more than a foot deep. And they did it with a smile on their face.”
Snyder would like to “thank NMA, PSS Athletics, Run Saipan, Saipan Vegas Country Club, SIS and KHS for all of the hard work that they have done throughout the season and at the championship meet. Thank you also to the runners from Tinian and Rota who braved the poor weather during their flights to Saipan. I would also like to congratulate the hundreds of runners who participated in cross country this year and I hope to see you back again next year. To those who made the championship team — bravo! You have experienced a true cross country meet!”
The Saipan International School girls pose with their first-place trophy in the NMA-PSS Cross Country championships Saturday at the Saipan Vegas Country Club.
The ACS middle school girls and boys topped their respective divisions in the NMA-PSS Cross Country championships Saturday at the Saipan Vegas Country Club.
