Repeat winners, faster times recorded

Middle and high school runners leave the starting line during the second leg of the of Northern Marianas Athletics’ 2016 All Schools Cross Country Series held last Saturday at the CPA Airport Field. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Faster times and repeat winners in the middle and high school divisions highlighted the second leg of Northern Marianas Athletics’ 2016 All Schools Cross Country Series held last Saturday at the CPA Airport Field.

In the girls U13 division, Hopwood Junior High School’s Conatsu Kaga joined this year’s event for the first time and clocked in 14:06, which was faster than the 16:00 of Series 1 winner Rei Sekiguchi of Saipan International School. Sekiguchi slid to second place in Series 2, but eclipsed her time in the first leg after completing the two-lap race in 15:28. Sekiguchi’s teammate Victoria Torres, who was ranked second in Series 1, went down to third, but had a better time—from 17:37 in the first leg to 17:06 in the last weekend’s races.

Agape Christian School’s Elizabeth Zu (18:36) and Hopwood’s Windy Ly (18:43) rounded out the Top 5, while 16 others joined the finishers list—15 of them from Agape and one from Saipan Community School.

In the boys U13 age group, there was a repeat winner in Mt. Carmel School’s Dominic Torres, who completed the two-lap race in 14:50. He topped the first leg with a time of 14:28. Saipan Community School’s Mateo Guerrero came in at second with a faster time of 15:02 (from 15:13 in the first leg), while Dandan Middle School’s Xavier Sumor also surpassed his Series 1 time (16:47) after a field third-best 15:11. Twenty other runners made it to the finish line of the two-mile course.

In the girls U15 division, Saipan International School’s Anika Synder and Tania Tan and Agape’s Annie Wang duplicated their feats in Series 1 with another 1-2-3 finish in last weekend’s races. Synder submitted 14:48 in Series 2 to break her Series 1 mark (15:21). The runner-up Tan also had a faster time in the second leg with her 15:41 (from 16:28), while Wang logged 20:01, more than two minutes better than her record (22:06) in the first leg. Six other runners finished the division race.

In the boys U15, Series 1 runner-up Clayton Izuka this time finished on top of his division after posting 12:58. He was the lone runner to cut the tape under the 13-minute mark and his time also eclipsed his record (13:55) in the first leg.

Marianas High School’s Taiga Sato placed second in his first competition in the series after timing in at 13:37, while Series 1 fourth finisher David Cai of Agape moved up to third after registering 13:54. Cai had a faster time in the second leg, as he tallied 14:32 in the first. Izuka, Sato, and Cai were joined on the finishers list by 20 other runners.

In the boys U18, there were eight finishers led by Agape’s Alan Zhao, who capped the three-lap course in 19:58. Zhao was runner-up to teammate Caleb Wang in the first leg and his time in the Series 2 not only shattered his own record (20:46), but also the latter’s mark (20:45). Wang settled for a runner-up finish in the second leg, but had a faster time at 20:18. Mt. Carmel School’s Christian Villacrusis, who missed Series 1, came in at third with his 22:06, while five more Agape students completed the longest race of the weekend.

In the girls U18, Isabel Dickinson made it back-to-back after checking in at 24:56. She made it to the finish line more than two minutes ahead of Agape’s Ella Zhang, who clocked in at 27:25 to beat her Series 2 time (28:44). Zhang was also the runner-up in the first leg, while teammate Daisy Yang had another third place finish after recording 28:21 last weekend and surpassing her Series 1 mark (29:36).

Nine other runners finished the girls U18 race last weekend, while participants in the middle and high school races totaled 118, over 40 than the turnout in the first leg.

Meanwhile, the third leg of the series will still be held at the CPA field, but with a different start time. Middle and high school races will begin at 7am, while elementary competitions will start at 7:50am.