2021 all schools cross country championships this Saturday

From left, Run Saipan president Edward Dela Cruz Jr., Kagman High School track and field coach Nick Brennfleck, and Northern Marianas Athletics cross country director Ron Snyder during last Saturday’s final PSS/NMA Cross Country Qualifier at the old Saipan Country Club golf course behind Saipan Vegas. (Mark Rabago)

Cross country season will conclude this Saturday when the 2021 PSS/NMA Cross Country Championships will be held at the old Saipan Country Club golf course behind Saipan Vegas.

Northern Marianas Athletics cross country director Ron Snyder said the Top 6 eligible students from each competing school in the CNMI will get the chance to run in the 2021 all schools cross country championships.

“To be eligible, students had to compete in and finish one of the season meets. The winners this week will be determined by the combined scores of the Top 4 finishers on each team. They will be added together and the school with the low score in each category will take home the trophy for school year 2021,” he said.

At stake for this year’s cross country championships is a perpetual plaque awarded to the winning school in each category—elementary boys and girls, middle school boys and girls, and high school boys and girls.

While team competition for cross country will have special emphasis this year, Snyder assured that individual performances would still be rewarded in the cross country championships—gold medal for first place, silver for second, and bronze for third.

“We will also have individual medals for the Top 3 finishers in each category,” he said.

Like last week’s final qualifier, Saipan Vegas will again serve as the venue for this Saturday’s cross country championships.

“The course will take place on the beautiful Saipan Vegas golf course. The elementary school runners will charge down the fairway and return to a large 250m loop to finish their 1.3-kilometer course. Middle and high school will run over a longer and more scenic 2.5K loop. Middle school [runners] will complete one loop and high school [runners]will complete two loops in order to determine who will be the champions this year,” he said.

Unlike the qualifiers, the PSS/NMA Cross Country Championships this Saturday will have the 14U and the 18U divisions start off first at 6:30am. They will be followed by the 12U division at 7:15am. Check-time across all age divisions is 6am. The awards ceremony will begin at 7:45am.

NMA has characterized the Saipan Vegas venue as a fast, manicured course looping through fairways and next to putting greens, offering easy cross country and off-road running. It also has slight hills, paved and grass paths that are suitable for spikes if you remain off the paved paths.

The Public School System has partnered with Northern Marianas Athletics, the governing body of athletics in the CNMI, to organize track and field as well as cross country events in the 2021-22 school year.

Registration for the 2021 PSS/NMA Cross Country Championships can be accessed via the PSS Shared Drive.