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Run for the Coconut revived; SIS, SCS split honors
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- Saipan International School and Saipan Community School runners head out to the course along Beach Road during last Thursday’s Run for the Coconut. (Contributed Photo)
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- Saipan International School students and teacher Kathy Ruszala, second right, pose for a photo after the race. (Contributed Photo)
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- Two runners are in a tight race. (Contributed Photo)
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- The last wave of runners heads out to the course. (Contributed Photo)
Nearly 60 elementary and middle School runners from Saipan International School and Saipan Community School raced along Beach Road during the Run for the Coconut last Thursday.
The Run for the Coconut will be an annual meet between SIS and SCS. It was used to be a dual meet between SCS and Tanapag Elementary School in the 1990s. Upon returning to the island, SIS headmaster Ron Snyder proposed the idea of reviving the race to SCS principal Amanda Dunn and the rest is history. In the Run for the Coconut, there are two coconut trophies and the winner of each division gets to bring the trophy to their school and display the trophy for a year.
Parents from both schools lined the path to cheer on the young runners, while students from the SIS Rotary Interact Club volunteered as timers, guards, and monitors along the course to ensure that the students were safe.
“It was great to see all of the participants from our school and SCS enjoying the event even with the bad weather in the beginning,” said SIS Rotary Interact Club president Prunella Pelagrino.
This year, the Tsunamis captured the coconut trophy for the elementary division. SCS scored 18 points against SIS’ 23 to prevail in a close fight for the division trophy (points were awarded based on how runners from each school finished and early finishers got low points so the school will the lower total won).
In the individual results, SIS third grader Kelley McCallion was the top finisher as he clocked in at 5:38 in the one-mile course. Rounding out the ribbon spots were David Ye (6:00) and Jose Sablan (6:27), also from SIS. SIS’ other runners were Finn Altizer, Logan Benson, Beatrice Gross, Phoenix Gross, and Kyanna Cabrera, while Daniel Malus, Eugen So, Lola Guerrero, and Abbie Kim raced for SCS.
In the middle school division, the Geckos were denied a perfect score by Isaiah Aleksenko, who earned the first place honors with a time of 13:13. Dylan Mister (14:28) took home the second place ribbon and teammate Danny Lee notched the third place ribbon, edging out his sister Danna. Cathy Woo, Connel Hartig, and Christian Newman completed the Geckos’ roster, while Hilah Bacani, Daniel Kang, Miles Timmons, and Jii Lee were among the top finishers for SCS.
In addition to the 23 bibbed runners representing the two schools, over 30 other elementary and middle school students came out to support their schools by running the course. (PR)
