Chavez wins; Agape earns sweep

The lead group in the girls U14 division race heads out to the course during the finals of the 2020-2021 Public School System/Northern Marianas Athletics All Schools Cross Country Series last Saturday at the CPA Airport Field. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

As predicted, Mt. Carmel School’s Kaithlynn Chavez came out on top of the girls middle school race, while Agape Christian School also lived up to high expectations after clinching the overall championship in the U14 division of the 2020-2021 Public School System/Northern Marianas Athletics All Schools Cross Country Series.

Chavez, who despite joining just one qualifier was favored to win the division, did not disappoint in the finale last Saturday at the CPA Airport Field, as she outraced the entire middle school field made up of 33 runners. The Mt. Carmel student completed the 2.1-mile course in 14:01, nearly a minute ahead of boys U14 division first finisher Peter Peng (15:08) of Agape Christian School.

Mt. Carmel School’s Kaithlynn Chavez shows her first place medal in the girls U14 division. (Contributed Photo)

Joining Chavez in the Top 3 in the girls U14 division were Agape’s Barbara Wang and Saipan International School’s Savita Sikkel, who clocked in at 16:33 and 16:57 in the two-lap course, respectively.

In the boys U14 age group, Peng shared the podium with runner-team and fellow Agape student Joseph Li (15:21) and SIS’ Casey Chambers (15:23). The Top 3 finishers in the middle school races received medals.

With Agape going 1-2 in the boys U14 division, the Torchbearers took the team honors for the second straight season after collecting 18 points (each school received points from its Top 4 finishers and the team with the lowest score wins the division championship). Peng gave Agape a point for his first place finish, while 2 markers came from Li and the remaining 15 were courtesy of No. 4 ranked Danny Cheng (15:41) and No. 11 Boxin Chen (18:17).

SIS came in second in the boys U14 with its 23 points, while Saipan Community School placed third after logging 41 markers. Mt. Carmel, Francisco M. Sablan Middle School, Tinian Middle School, and Hopwood Middle School did not qualify for the team honors due to lack of required runners (at least three plus ghost runner).

Agape Christian School students (in red tops) lead runners to the course during the finals of the 2020-2021 Public School System/Northern Marianas Athletics All Schools Cross Country Series last Saturday at the CPA Airport Field. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Chambers, No. 5 finisher William Lee (16:07), No. 7 Christian Newman (16:28), and No. 8 Gyu Hyeon Park (16:46) accounted for the Geckos’ points, while No. 6 Elijay (16:24) and No. 10 David (17:47) Ye and No. 12 Dwight Crisostomo (18:58) delivered for SCS (ghost runner in last place was added to the team’s score).

In the girls U14 division, Agape got 17 points, beating SIS anew in a close fight, as the Lady Geckos earned 20 markers.

Since Chavez’s Mt. Carmel School did not have enough runners to qualify for the team awards, the top point (1) was awarded to the runner-up Wang, while No. 3 finisher Serena Chen (17:16), No. 6 Esther Xu (19:43), and No. 7 Ruth Zhang (20:49) scored the needed points for Agape.

SIS, on the other hand, drew 2 points from Sikkel, No. 4 finisher Phoenix Gross (19:14), No. 5 Rebecca Eaton (19:22), and No. 9 Hoo Wang (22:56).