MHS breaks tie against KHS

Marianas High School women paddlers in action during the 2021 PSS Interscholastic High School Canoe Series last Saturday in the waters off Kilili Beach. (Kimberly A. Bautista)

Marianas High School broke its draw with Kagman High School to officially take the top seat in the women’s division of the 2020-2021 Public School System Interscholastic High School Canoe Series.

The Lady Dolphins have proven they are the team to beat following the fourth leg of the series race last Saturday in the waters off Kilili Beach. MHS prevailed over the Lady Ayuyus after earning an additional 18 points from the preliminary and finals of both the 500m and 1,000m races to bring its overall score to 39.

The MHS women’s canoe team consists of Aleena Ada, Tianna Aldan, Xyrene Apostol, Tiara Cepeda, Margarette Dolotina, Haeven Hocog, Angella Maratas, and Mikaela Vergara.

Prior to last Saturday’s race, MHS and KHS each held an overall score of 19 points on the leaderboard.

KHS, which was once tied for first on the leaderboard with MHS, is now 12 behind after earning only 12 points from the preliminary and finals of both the 500m and 1,000m dash in the fourth leg of the series.

MHS started off strong taking first place in the preliminary round of the 500m dash. The Lady Dolphins completing the course in 3:26 to earn 5 points. MHS later lost the lead in the finals and placed second after submitting a time of 3:36 earning 3 points. MHS completed the 500m dash with a total of 8 points.

KHS lagged behind MHS in the preliminary round of the 500m dash by 2 seconds, completing the course in 3:29 at second place. The Lady Ayuyus redeemed themselves in the finals, beating MHS by 2 seconds with a time of 3:33 to bag first place.

Saipan Southern High School took third place in both the preliminary and final round of the 500m dash, completing the preliminaries at 3:34 and then the finals at 3:43.

MHS went on to sweep the 1,000m race taking first in both the preliminary and final round to gain 10 points overall. MHS completed the preliminary round of the 1,000m dash in 7:10 and completed the finals in 7:12.

KHS took second place in the preliminary round of the 1,000m dash with a time of 7:24, 14 seconds behind the Lady Dolphins. KHS fell short in the finals with a finishing time of 7:26 to place third.

The Lady Manta Rays finished third in the preliminary round of the race at 7:28, but picked up the pace in the finals to place second after submitting a time of 7:23.

During the long-distance race two weeks ago, MHS took the lead with a time of 56:09 to earn 5 points. KHS tailed MHS just a minute behind after submitting a time of 57:17 to earn 3 points. SSHS took last place to gain 1 point with a time of 58:24.