Spaeth, Jambor fastest in Taga Kids sprint triathlon

Spaeth

Right after the adults had their go with the sprint triathlon event for the Tan Holdings 50th Anniversary celebration, children had a jump in their own scaled-down version in the Taga Kids Triathlon at Paupau Beach last Saturday. 

The course was all within the confines of Paupau Beach, with the children’s parents and family right beside them and cheering them on. The younger and older children were divided into age groups with the younger children running the course first.

Children in the age group of 5 to eight 8 old had to do a 50m swim, one lap on the bike, and a one lap run. The course for the age group of nine to 12 years old was doubled with a 100m swim, two bike laps, and two laps of running. 

Lovel Spaeth in the girls’ age group of 7 to eight 8 old came in the fastest among all the children in all age groups with a time of 6:31. Aileen Kim came in after at 7:23, then Raeya Edvalson at 7:35.

Jambor

Spaeth was interviewed after her run and told Saipan Tribune that winning first place made her feel “good” and that she did her “best” to make sure she won first place.

With regards to what training she’s done in preparation for the event, she said “I have swim practice and we practice swimming faster. Last time my swim teacher was practicing [us] on how fast we could go and beating our time… [I was] trying to do my best and I was also thinking about… what place I would get.”

In the girls’ age group of 5 to 6 years old, Olivia Walsh topped it with a time of 7:30, followed by Cloe Burrell at 8:35, and Mika McKagan at 9:35.

In the boys’ 5 to 6 years old age group, Juwon Park came out on top with a time of 8:20, Jace Brennfleck came in second with a time of 8:47, and Declan Spaeth came in at a time of 9:01.

In the 7 to 8 years old boys’ age group, Gabriel Walsh topped it with a time of 6:36, which is the second fastest time in the triathlon overall, followed by Yubo Lin at 6:37, and Beau Bauer at 6:47.

In the older kid’s category from 9 to 12 years old overall, and specifically within the nine to 10 years old boys’ age group, Quido Jambor came in first with a time of 11:57, followed by Kanoa Owens at 11:57, and Philip James Seman at 16:02.

Jambor told Saipan Tribune after the race that he “felt really good” winning first place because “I’m not really good at swimming but I’m good at running and biking so that helped me.” 

In the 11 to 12 years old girls’ age group, the only competitor was Olivia Zhang who came in with the time of 17:22.

And lastly, in the 11 to 12 years old boys’ age group, Akeem Edvalson was first with the time of 12:51, followed by Keoni Ruszala at 16:05, then James Zhang Xiong at 17:39.

The Triathlon Association of the CNMI helped organize the Taga Kid Triathlon.