Tottots sweep MS athletics champs

The Dandan Middle School athletics team poses with their coaches Simon Necesito, right, and Jeri May Tudela, left, after their sweep of the middle school 14U PSS/McDonald’s All Schools Athletics 2022-2023 championships last Friday night and Saturday morning at the Oleai Sports Complex track and field. (LEIGH GASES)

DanDan Middle School Tottots flew to victory as they swept both the boys and girls division of the 14U PSS/McDonald’s All Schools Athletics 2022-2023 championships last Friday night and Saturday morning at the Oleai Sports Complex track and field.

DMS bagged first overall in the girls division with 100 points; Tinian Jr. High School was second with 69 points; and Saipan International School was third with 59 points.

The Tottots boys collected a total 112 points; SIS and Agape Christian School were tied at second with 68 points; and third was Francisco M. Sablan Middle School with 61 points.

They started their round up of first place wins when Christopher Cruz came in first in the 14U boys 100m at 12.04; Audiescott Iakopo from SIS was second at 12.44; and third was ACS’ Shulun He at 12.63 seconds.

DanDan Middle School’s Alyssa Mendiola, left, leads the relay race in the girls 14U PSS/McDonald’s All Schools Athletics 2022-2023 championships last Saturday morning at the Oleai Sports Complex track and field. (LEIGH GASES)

Cruz bagged first place again in the 14U boys 200m with a time of 26.01; Tanapag Middle School’s Abraham Falig was second at 26.06; and Iakopo was third at 26.25 seconds.

The Lady Tottots took first in the 14U girls 800m as Addalee Taflinger flew in first at 2:49.48; Aubrey White from SIS was second at 2:56.99; and third was ACS’ Barbara Wang at 2:58.99. Taflinger won first again in the 14U girls 1,500m with a time of 6:02.69; Second was Wang at 6:22.48; and third was DMS’ Jian Chun at 6:45.21. Taflinger made it three in a row as she won first again in the 14U girls 3,000m with a time of 14:02.00; Wang was second at 14:16.36; and SIS’ Faith Arriola was third at 14:20.45.

In the 14U boys javelin throw field event, DMS’ Zion Rogopes was first with a throw of 28.15m; Caleb Sablan from FMS was second at 26.68m and teammate Peyton Basa was third at 26.39m.

In the 14U boys shot put throw, DMS’ Kallan Seidler was first at 9.42m; Kymani Nabors from TJHS was second at 9.22m; and David Ye from Saipan Community School was third with 9m.

Rogopes was first again in the 14U boys discus throw event with 25.56m; Basa was second at 25.39m; and DMS’ Jacob Calvo was third with 24.96m.

The Lady Tottots claimed the top spot in a close 14U girls 4X100m relay with a time of 1:00.52; second was TJHS with 1:00.92; and ChaCha Ocean View Middle School bagged third place with 1:04.46.

The Tottots won second place in the 14U boys 4X100m relay with a time of 53.96; first was ACS with 52.65; third was Hopwood Middle School at 58.26 seconds.

In the 14U boys 4X400m relay, SIS won first with a time of 4:18.84; ACS was second at 4:20.94; and third was DMS with a time of 4:22.90.

Top 3 in the 14U girls 200m was Ysabella Lenteja from TJHS at 28.59; Aubrey White at 30.33; and DMS’ Alyssa Mendiola at 31.12 seconds.

In the 14U boys 400m, SIS’ Moshe Sikkel claimed first at 58.88; Christopher Cruz was second at 59.95; and Grace Christian Academy’s Michael Miller was third at 1:00.71.

Top 3 in the 14U girls 400m was Lenteja with 1:07.89; Ella Hall from GCA at 1:08.57; and Taflinger with 1:09.18.

In the 14U boys long jump event, FMS’ Changhwan Ryu threw the farthest with 4.79m; Seidler won second with 4.7m; and Caleb Sablan won third at 4.58m.

DMS coach and teacher Simon Necesito was almost speechless throughout the interview. “Words cannot express how excited we are… I asked them to give 100% and they gave 110% today. They did amazing throughout the qualifiers and the finals.

Co-coach and teacher Jeri May Tudela said that she is proud of them all and was equally as excited as Necesito. “We have a lot of good talent here… All the intense training led to insane results. DMS girls, a lot of hard work went into this, and you believed in yourselves. You guys did great.”