Wonenberg breaks National records

Hopwood Junior High School student Jacque Wonenberg was already a dominant force when she entered Saturday’s 2006 McDonald’s All Schools Track and Field Championships.

After a day of making her presence felt, the young Sadog Tasi resident left the track but not after raising the bar on three events.

Wonenberg broke the women’s national records in the 100m, 200m, and 400m sprints and spearheaded HJHS to winning the team competition in the girls’ 14-and-under category.

The HJHS girls won gold in all but two events racked up a whopping 202 points to win first place, while Whispering Palms School and Garapan Elementary School finished in second and third with 59 and 44 points.

Wonenberg started by exploding off the blocks in the 100m dash to take gold and set a new mark with a time of 13.63 seconds. Teammates Mario Conui and Yue Wang made it a sweep for the school, taking silver and bronze in 14.68 and 14.80 seconds.

It was on to the 200m sprint and Wonenberg continued to shine as she made it two golds and two records in two events after completing the half-lap challenge in just 27.87 seconds. It was another HJHS sweep as Conui and Jovi Jenn took silver and bronze in 31.27 and 32.68 seconds.

In her final individual event, Wonenberg was faced with the one-lap 400m task and overcame with ease as she broke away from the field and finished well ahead of the pack for her third record-breaking performance with a time of 1:02.34. Teammate Ira Palero won silver in 1:15.85, while Garapan’s Janael Lucero took bronze in 1:24.83.

Wonenberg won another gold in the 4X100m relay as HJHS finished ahead of all teams in 59.32 seconds. WPS won second place in 1:08.69, while San Vicente Elementary School won bronze in 1:13.40.

HJHS also won gold in the 4X400m relay, taking first place in 5:32.47. Garapan and San Vicente elementary schools finished in second and third with times of 6:08.44 and 6:09.23.

HJHS also recorded sweeps in the 800m run and high jump. Sammi Birmingham-Baba posted the best time in the two-lap 800m event, clocking in at 3:16.48, while Madisa Onni and Jhaneeka Atalig followed in 3:17.78 and 3:17.85.

The high jump was topped by Wang with a jump of 1.16 meters. Atalig won silver with after recording a height of 1.03 meters, while Annalove Refalupei won bronze with a jump of 1.00 meters.

Wang also won gold in the long jump with a distance of 3.94 meters, while Audrey Motto of WPS and Hopwood’s Colleen Sablan made the Top 3 with jumps of 3.38 and 3.16 meters.

Wang’s third gold came in the girls’ javelin throw after registering a throw of 22.7 meters. Motto won another silver with a distance of 21.09 meters while Sonya Lizama, also of HJHS, placed third with a throw of 17.67 meters.

Jasonniarie Lizama of HJHS also won gold in the discus (19.92m), while Madison Schultz of WPS won silver (10.53m).

The other HJHS gold came in the 1,500m run as Evangeline Manalili topped the field in 6:46.07. Garapan’s Naomi Keptot won silver in 7:06.26, while Arisha Nishimura of HJHS placed third in 7:08.30.

For her part, Motto won gold in the shot put (7.60m), while Lizama (7.59) and Jessica Soll (5.95) followed.

HJHS was also successful in the boys’ competition with 102 points. Cha Cha Oceanview Junior High School won second place with 96 points, while Tinian Junior High School took third with 70 points.

The HJHS boys won one gold when Jack Sachuo made a throw of 10.37 meters in the shot put. Kenneth Aguon of Cha Cha (9.07m) and Nathan Ada of Tinian (7.90m) came in second and third.

Meanwhile, Jonathan Welson of Cha Cha won gold in the 100m with a time of 12.61 seconds, while teammate Wayne Dawe (13.18) and Mikee Bondoc of HJHS (13.54) followed.

Welson made it two-for-two by taking the 200m in 27.18 seconds, while Hopwood’s J.R. Concepcion (27.71) and Bondoc (28.24) placed second and third.

Dawe won the 400m in 1:01.80 while Concepcion (1:02.53) and Tinian’s Donnie Dasalua (1:06.59) followed.

Tinian’s Dosalua and Steven Cabrera topped the 800m in 2:45.07 and 2:47.62, while Severino Alforenza of HJHS took bronze in 2:50.14.

Dosalua won his second gold in the 1,500m with a time of 5:30.43, while Joseph Baza of HJHS (5:42.59) and Cabrera (5:56.29) followed.

He also topped the discus with a throw of 28.11m. Sachuo (24.26m) and Nathan Ada (22.37m) followed.

Cha Cha won the two relays and HJHS placed second in both. Saipan Community School took bronze in the 4X100m while WPS won the medal in the 4X400m.

Patrick Torres of Cha Cha (1.60m), Kai Staal of WPS (1.26m), and Hunter Thorpe of WPS (1.25m) won the high jump; Sang Woo Han of SCS (4.35m), Welson (4.32), and Bondoc (4.25) won the long jump; and Ken Aguon of Cha Cha (29.9m) and Lucas Knecht of WPS (22.55m) won the javelin.