Agape HS teams top Gecko 5000

Samuel Zhu of Agape Christian School crosses the finish line first in the high school boys cross country division of the Gecko 5000 last Saturday in Marpi. (LAO ZHANG)

The Torchbearers ruled both the boys and girls cross country course in the Gecko 5000 race held last Saturday at Banzai Cliff.

The Torchbearers’ boys high school cross country team garnered 11 points, ranking first among five other high schools which included Saipan International School, Marianas High School, Saipan Southern High School, Grace Christian Academy, and Mount Carmel School.

ACS’ very own Samuel Zhu led the way with a time of 19:47 followed by schoolmate Jiaeh Wang’s 20:21. Pony Tang from MHS was right behind at 20:25.

SIS came in second place, with 60 points, MHS came in third with 71 points, SSHS came in fourth with 72 points, GCA was fifth with 73 points, and MCS was last with 79 points.

In the high school girls cross country race, while SIS took the gold, (Kaithlyn Chavez at 22:23) and bronze (Tiana Cabrera at 23:39), cross country is a team sport with ACS overtaking them in team points, thus winning the girls race with 17 points, and SIS taking second with 23. Eunice Xu of ACS came in with the silver with a tine of 23:08.

Pastor Jimeian Pang said this about their school’s teams’ wins, “the hard work paid off. I think you reap what you sow and we thank God for that. The students are new this year—they came in half a year [ago] and have great potential and they are willing to run. I believe there are many runners in all the schools with potential. It’s only a matter of training.”

“Cross Country is a team sport. So, while SIS took both the gold and the bronze, Agape overtook us in team points. We are definitely looking forward to a revenge match at the championships! But I am very proud of all the girls. It was an amazing effort and they are really starting to come together. I will be very happy to present Kaithlyn and Tiana with their medals and expect amazing things to come from both of them as well as the rest of the girls,” said SIS headmaster Dr. Ron Snyder on SIS’ performance.

“SIS did come out on top in the elementary divisions and I am very happy that coach [Kathy] Ruszala is still coaching with us this year. This ensures a strong program for years to come,” added Snyder.

In the boys 1-mile elementary school division, SIS came in first place, ACS was second, and Oleai Elementary School come in third place. Reyviel Escarlan from ACS came in with a time of 6:19, SIS’ Jude Rayphand came in at 6:35, and SIS’ Quido Jambor came in at 6:41.

In the girls 1-mile elementary school division, SIS topped it with 18 points, followed by OES at 58 points with ACS coming in third with 69 points. San Vicente Elementary School had 70 points and Brilliant Star School had 78 points. Lovel Spaeth of BSS came in gold with the time of 7:15, followed by Kaylen Ruth Taflinger with 7:16, and SIS’ Leilani Ruszala with 7:17.

The middle school boys course was dominated by ASC with 25 points, followed by SIS with 38 points, and GCA with 40 points. Michael Miller from GCA took the gold with a time of 12:42, followed by Landen Taflinger of DanDan Middle School at 13:13, and Daniel Song from ASC with 13:38.

Finally, the middle school girls were ruled by ASC as well with 16 points, followed by SIS with 23 points, and SCS with 41 points. 

This year’s cross country season went off with a bang, bringing in 426 registrants in the All Schools Division.

A total of 200 registered for the open and fun run division, for a total of 626 overall registrants for this year’s Gecko 5000, making this the biggest event yet.

The Gecko 5000 was organized by SIS with help from Northern Marianas Athletics and Run Saipan.