All schools athletics returns

Elementary school students led by Saipan International School’s Leilani Ruszala, right, run in the track during the first qualifier of the NMA/PSS All School’s Athletics 2022-2023 last Tuesday at the Oleai Sports Complex. (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)

The NMA/PSS All Schools Athletics 2022-2023 kicked off Tuesday with three weeks of qualifiers for the 12U and 9U divisions in various athletics events at the Oleai Sports Complex track and field.

Group 1 schools consist of Saipan International School, Koblerville Elementary School, William S. Reyes Elementary School, Saipan Community School, San Vicente Elementary School, Seventh Day Adventist School, Oleai Elementary School, and Northern Marianas International School. 

They competed in Event A athletics events of 60m, 200m, 800m, and long jump.

The 9U boys 60m Heat 1 was dominated by KobES’ Lellan Daniel with a time of 10.97; second was OES’ Makai Cutting at 11.35; and third was William Otto Dunn IV from SCS with a time of 12.92 seconds.

In Heat 2, the far-from-slow Turtles’ Eumond Peter raced to first at nine minutes flat; second was the Umangs’ Dean Aldan at 9.10; and third was Jayden Concepcion, another Turtle at 10.06 seconds. Heat 3 was dominated by the Geckos’ Gabriel Walsh at 10.26; the Turtles’ Jacob Borja came in second at 10.58; and Geckos’ Carver Gross at 10.87 seconds.

In the 9U girls 60m Heat 1, the Kingfishers’ Amelei Ogumoro clocked in first at 11.29; second was the Guardians’ Amethyst Winkfield at 12.67; and third was the Umangs’ Anjelene Lucas with 12.89 seconds. Heat 2 was the Turtles’ Breanne Ilo in first place with a time of 10.76; second was fellow Turtle Madison Rabauliman at 11.91; and third was the Umangs’ Emma Lee at 12.67.

In the 12U boys 60m, the Umangs’ all-around athlete Napu Pangelinan bested the competition with a time of 9.42; second was the Turtles’ D.K. Pino at 9.86; and third was the Kingfishers’ Jiro Quindoza at 10.17 seconds. The Turtles’ Jeno Pino came in first in Heat 2 with 9.03; the Geckos’ Quido Jambor came in second with 9.25; and third was the Umangs’ Iku Benavente with 9.53 seconds.

For the 12U girls 60m, first heat was won by the Turtles’ Gabriella Ruben with a time of 9.60; the Geckos’ Windsor Gross came in at 10.54; and the Turtles’ Avani Ayuyu came in at 10.82. Heat 2 was dominated by the Geckos’ Adalee West at 10.08; second was the Turtles’ Haeilie Edwards at 10.33; and third was the Geckos’ Leilani Ruszala at 10.58.

For the 200m event, the 9U boys Heat 1 was dominated by Gabriel Walsh with a time of 38.02; Joshua McDonald from SCS came in second with 38.73; and third was OES’ Gene Tabhan at 41.67. SIS’ Ezra West came in first in Heat 2 at 38.65; SCS’ Lennox Sablan was second with 38.84; and third was OES’ Mathew Ondra at 39.37.

Heat 3 was won by the Umangs’ Dean Aldan at 35.1; WSR’s Ramon Camacho was second with 39.99; and third was Carver Gross at 42.64.

For the 9U girls 200m Heat 1, Neveah Arriola from SIS came in first at 37.08; WSR’s Kyra Tarkong came in second at 37.47; third was Madison Rabauliman. Heat 2’s first place was OES’ Maria Limes at 40.25; second was WSR’s Amelie Ogumoro at 41.28; and third was KobES’ Kaya Deleon Guerrero.

The 12U boys 200m Heat 1 winner was Napu Pangelinan with 31.75; second was KobES’ Anthony Aldan at 32.08; third was WSR’s Joshua Lizama at 34.35. Quido Jambor came in first in Heat 2 at 32.44; Iku Benavente came in second at 34.16; and Jiro Quindoza at 36.65 came in third.

The 12U girls 200m Heat 1 first place was Windsor Gross at 37.94; second was OES’ Lea Palacios at 38.84; and WSR’s Rosa Acosta was third at 39.12. WSR’s Roswele Castillo came in first in Heat 2 at 35.64; Leilani Ruszala was second at 37.28; and third was SIS’ Lucy Woo at 37.81.

In the 9U boys 800m Heat 1, Ezra West came in first at 3:29.26; second was KobES’ Cherokee Kin at 3:34.81; third was Jayden Concepcion at 3:38.36. Heat 2 was topped by KobES’ Kaegel Taitano at 3:15.12; second was Gabriel Walsh at 3:29.60; and third was KobES’ Richard Mungwaath at 3:36.48.

In the 9U girls 800m Heat 1, OES’ Kaylen Taflinger came in first at 3:23.37; teammate Marianne Eugenio came in second at 3:31.55; and third was Kyra Tarkong at 3:58.78.

The 12U boys 800m Heat 1 first place was Quido Jambor at 3:03.07; Alexander Salundaguit from OES’ was second at 3:18.77; and third was Napu Pangelinan at 3:24.04. The 12U girls 800m Heat 1 first place was Leilani Ruszala at 3:31.65; second was Windsor Gross at 3:32.52; and third was OES’ Erricka Long at 3:38.49.

In the 9U boys long jump event, Eumond Peter’s best attempt was 2.53m and bagged first place; second was Lennoz Sablan at 2.18m; and third was WSR’s Aaron Nishimura at 2.13m.

First place in the 9U girls long jump was WSR’s Nicolette Bauleong with a best attempt at 1.77m; second was Kaylen Taflinger at 1.76m; and third was SCS’ Riley Parsons at 1.75m.