SAIPAN International School and Dandan Middle School triumphed in the third event of the PSS-NMA All School Cross Country series Saturday at American Memorial Park, dislodging Agape Christian School from the top spot in two categories.
SIS had been going head-to-head with ACS in the high school girls category and the Geckos’ relentless efforts finally paid off as they claimed the top spot for the first time with a total of 17 points.
SIS’ Kaithlyn Chavez and Tiana Cabrera took the spotlight in first and second places with a time of 00:22.08 and 00:24.08 for 1 and 2 points respectively. With team mate Serin Chung finishing fourth with a time of 00:26.11 for 4 points, the team secured first place with a total of 17 points.
Cross country is similar to golf in that the lowest score wins.
ACS came in second with a total of 22 points followed by Marianas High School and Saipan Southern High School which both garnered 65 points, and Mount Carmel School which had 72 points.
In the high school boys category, ACS still reigned supreme with a total of 25 points.
Although MHS led the pack with Pony Tang and Cody Shimizu in first and second places with a time of 00:19.57 and 00:20.39, ACS’ Allen Luo (00:21.33), Daniel Li (00:22.02), Samiel Zhu (00:22.05) and Stephen Chen (00:22.06) made it to the top 10 list to earn a total of 25 points for their team.
MHS came in second with 45 points; SSHS was third with 49; SIS was fourth with 85; Grace Christian Academy was fifth with 89; and MCS was sixth with 97.
In the middle school boys category, Dandan Middle School emerged victorious with a total of 47 points. Landen Taflinger led DMS as he finished second overall with a time of 00:13.13 while team mate Seth Sablan came in eighth at 00:16.55.
GCA took second place with 51 points followed by Hopwood Middle School and SIS which both earned 52 points each. MCS had 68 points; ACS, 70; and Saipan Community School, 81.
In the girls division, ACS’ Barbara Wang (00:16.25), Lucy Hong (00:17.50), Suzie Zheng (00:18.23), and May Kim (00:20.08) made the top 10 list to secure first place for their team with a total of 18 points.
SIS finished second with 32 points, followed by DMS with 46, SCS with 64, MCS with 83 and HOP with 88.
As for the elementary school category, SIS took the spotlight in the boys and girls divisions.
SIS’ Scarlett Burrell (00:08.19), Leilani Ruszala (00:09.07) and Windsor Gross (00:09.14) finished third to fifth places to lead the girls division as a team with a total of 23 points. They bested Brilliant Star School which had 38; Oleai Elementary School, 48; Gregorio T. Camacho Elementary School, 99; and ACS, 101.
In the boys division, SIS’ Quido Jambor (00:08.02), Jake Duenas (00:08.29) and Ezra West (00:08.47) made the top 10 list to secure their team’s first place finish with 29 points. They were followed by ACS with 54, BSS with 46, Garapan Elementary School with 66, and San Vicente Elementary School with 74.
Elementary school students prepare for the start of the third event of the 2022 PSS-NMA All School Cross Country series Saturday at American Memorial Park.
