Umangs sprint to boys athletics champs

The Koblerville Elementary School boys sprinted to the finish in the PSS/McDonald’s All Schools Athletics 2022-2023 championships last Friday night and Saturday morning at the Oleai Sports Complex track and field.

The Umangs accumulated the most points with 91 over the course of the qualifiers and the championship rounds.

Behind them are the boys of Gregorio T. Camacho Elementary School with 74 points; Saipan International School with 61; Tinian Elementary School had 60; Kagman Elementary School collected 46; William S. Reyes Elementary School had 45; Agape Christian School got 40; Oleai Elementary School had 38; Sinapalo Elementary School collected 28; Brilliant Star School came out with 17; Garapan Elementary School had 15; Grace Christian Academy had 10; and San Vicente Elementary School had 2.

In the championship rounds on Friday, the Umangs dominated the short distance 60m, 100m, and 400m sprinting events, along with the softball throw event.

The 12U boys 60m was topped by Ben Hossain at 8.58; second to him was Juan Caraballo of KagES at 8.76; and third was Conan Iakopo from GTC at 8.92 seconds.

Dean Aldan came in first in the 9U boys 100m; second was Kintinio Eleisiar of GTC at 16.28; and third was Daviray Indalecio from KagES at 16.55 seconds.

The 12U boys 100m was the same Top 3 as the 12U boys 60m—Ben Hossain with 14.26;  Juan Caraballo at 14.61; and Conan Iakopo at 14.92 seconds.

Dean Aldan once again topped the 9U boys 400m. Second was Eumond Peter of OES at 1:22.51; and Ezra West from SIS came in third at 1:23.19.

In the 12U boys softball throw, Logan Daniel threw the farthest at 39.86m; teammate Napu Pangelinan was second at 36.79m; and third was Niziah Dela Cruz from TES at 35.1m.

Francis Mendiola, the Umangs coach, said that their overall win was surprising. “They worked hard for it. It was one month of learning how to run fast, just running, so I’m just happy that they performed well.”

He said their strengths this season were definitely the short distance sprints and Mendiola said they now know what to work on in the longer distances for next season.

Most of the boys in his team are soccer and basketball players so Mendiola was happy that their team pulled through on top. He then thanked the Public School System, PSS Athletic Program director Nick Gross, and Northern Marianas Athletics for having the event again after a long hiatus due to the pandemic.

This tournament concludes the elementary school 2022-2023 sports season.

This Friday and Saturday is the middle school PSS/McDonald’s All Schools Athletics 2022-2023 championships round.