Road Runners IV rules PIC relay

Youngster Seiya Eda led the Road Runners IV to victory in the 4X20-kilometer event in the Pacific Islands Club Road Race held last Saturday.

Eda, a Saipan Southern High School student and one of the runners to watch in the upcoming All Schools Cross Country finale, was the second runner on the team and rounded the 5K course after veteran Jack Kabiriel. Northern Marianas Athletics secretary general Robin Sapong, despite feeling under the weather, was third in the order, while Dylan Ackerman finished the race for the Road Runners IV. The quartet had a combined time of 1:47:50, which is 13:40.12 ahead of the runner-up team composed of Kaity Mattos, Rachel Epperson, William Schroeder, and Steven Beyer.

Robin Sapong, right, heads out to the 5-kilometer course after being tagged by teammate Seiya Eda in the relay event in the Pacific Islands Club Road Race last Saturday. (Jon Perez)

The mixed team of Mattos, Epperson, Schroeder and Beyer registered a combined time of 2:00:40.12, while the all-PIC employee squad of Raymond Tolentino, James Abuy, Rommel Bartolo and Jackie Van Natta came in third at 2:13:22.50. The Bautistas—Charles, Karl and Keil—with Solomon Henderson were the fourth team to complete the race at 2:20:18.06.

The 5K relay event had teams heading north and making a U-turn at Triple J Wholesale in Chalan Kanoa before heading back to PIC. The first runner then tagged the next runner and the race ended after all four members of the team rounded the course.

Meanwhile, Commonwealth Health Center employee Keith Longuski topped the men’s 10K and 30-39 division race (55:20.69), beating Charlie Sendin (58:12.94) and Yuichi Kobayashi (58:36.91).

Haruya Eda (1:10:49.97) and John Michael Navarro (2:11:29.38) were the only two runners in the men’s U14 category, while Marlon Garde (1:04:33.41), Paul Long (1:07:15.38) and Shawn Napier (1:12:47.15) were the Top 3 finishers in the 20-29 division.

Nathaniel Eugenio (1:05:49.44), Ariel Lansangan (1:07:00), and Ernesto Moises (1:07:36.69) took the Top 3 finish in the men’s 40-49, while Paul Cruz (59:06.44), Cesar Danao (1:03:21.66) and Toshikaki Satake (1:05:36.69) finished 1-2-3 in the men’s 50-59.

Lawyers Steven Pixley (1:05:07.50) and Joshua Berger (1:11:14.25) competed in the men’s 60-69 category, while Daniel Han was the lone runner in the 70-over division with a time of 1:33:20.53.

Charlie Sendin slows down as he nears the finish line of last Saturday’s PIC Road Race. (Jon Perez)

Kelsie Jaratt was the overall top female and 20-29 age division winner, as she crossed the finish line in 49:33, followed by Elaine Kwok (50:11) and Sakiko Eda (50:57). So Young Cho (1:13:18) and Anna Michelle Napier (1:14:18) were the other runners in the 20-29 division.

Terra Allen (53:30) and Erica Sanford (1:07:54) finished second and third behind Kwok in the 30-39 division, while Margaret Rose (57:14) and Jin Sook Lim (59:42) followed Eda in the 40-49 age group.

Suzy Kindel was the lone runner in the women’s 60-69 category and timed in at 1:08:53.