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Agape runners rule Christmas Island Relay
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Agape Christian School 1 runners celebrate their first place finish in last Saturday’s 35th Annual Christmas Island Relay at the Last Command Post. (Contributed Photo)
Agape Christian School runners swept the open and youth division races in last Saturday’s 35th Annual Christmas Island Relay.
Agape 1, which was made of up Jason Wang Shengen, Caleb Wang, Allan Zhao, Henry Xiong, and Hu En Ze, completed the 13.7-mile race from Pacific Islands Club to the Last Command Post in Marpi in 1:27:42 to top the open division of Northern Marianas Athletics’ season-ending event. Agape 1 was also the first overall finisher among the 21 teams and six solo runners that joined the weekend competition.
The overall champions’ time was more than two minutes faster than the winning mark (1:29:42) last year, which incidentally was posted by Agape’s Wang, Xiong, Shengen, Chan Haoyu, and Chen Bai Ling.
Agape 1 also had a repeat against last year’s runner-up Dark Horse Get Fit CNMI. Dark Horse made it to the Last Command Post at the 1:35:19 mark, more than four minutes slower than its 2015 time of 1:31:05. Ketson “Jack” Kabiriel once again suited up for Dark Horse and joined forces with Vince and Vincent Tudela, Keith Longuski, and a female ACS runner.
TRAC Run’s Nap Dizon, Emily Northrop, Florence Antonio, Teng Tacras, and Ronald Villafria rounded out the Top 3 finishers in the open division after completing the morning race in 1:37:37.
In the youth division, Agape 3 was the fastest after checking in at 1:34:25—the second best time overall. Onion Turtles and SIS Geckos came in at second and third place after submitting 1:38:18 and 1:46:13, respectively.
The SIS Geckos also made it to the Top 10 overall, joining Agape 2 (sixth/1:39:08), Team Rainbow (seventh/1:41:10), TRAC Bike (eighth/1:41.54), and Xtreme (ninth/1:44:50).
In the solo division, barefoot runner Chang Whan Jang logged the best time at 2:06:33, while Max Simian placed second after registering 2:08:54.
