Wang leads boys Cross Country winners

Caleb Wang showed the way in Agape Christian School’s dominating performance to lead the list of winners in the boys division of last Saturday’s All Schools Cross Country Championships at the Airport Field.

Caleb Wang, left, runs ahead of teammates Alan Zhao and Jason Wang in the finals of the boys U18 division in last Saturday’s All Schools Cross Country race at the Airport Field. (Jon Perez)

He was the top runner in the U18 age group as he completed the 3.2-mile run (5.1 kilometers) in 20:20, which was 19 seconds slower of his winning time of 20:01 in the final leg of the annual race for private and public school students.

Wang, the 14th overall and the top U18 runner in this year’s Saipan Marathon, also had times of 20:35 and 21:38 in the first and second legs that he also won. He skipped the third leg.

Alan Zhao, who ran the half marathon course in Saipan’s Festival of Runs, was only nine seconds behind his teammate at 20:29, while Jason Wang, not related to Caleb, came in third at 21:19.

Samuel Hu also of ACS (21:55), Saipan Southern High School’s Djay Ong (22:21), and ACS’ Bai Lin Chen (24:02) completed the Top 6 finishers.

ACS also won the team award in the U18 division and added the U15 trophy after fielding the most number of runners in the age group with Mt. Carmel School coming in second.

MCS’ Christian Villacrusis, however, was the top boys U15 runner. He ruled all four legs and completed the 2.1-mile (3.3k) course for middle school runners in the finals in 12:28, shaving nine seconds of his 12:37 time in the fourth leg.

Chen Hao Yu and Xiong Lue settled for second and third, respectively, with times of 12:55 and 13:26, while three Marianas High School bets completed the Top 6—Neil Skerei (13:35), David Roberto (13:56), and Haruya Eda (13:59).

Saipan Community School earned the Top 2 places in the U13 boys with Ken Song (13:24), besting teammate Oliver Lee (13:35). Mt. Carmel School’s Dominick Torres was third (13:46).

Tanapag Middle School’s Taiga Sato (14:04), SCS’ Mateo Guerrero (15:47), and Whispering Palms School’s Blake Mister (15:49) finished fourth to sixth place, respectively.

Seung Jin Paik of SCS (6:27), Raven Francisco of Hopwood (6:32), ACS’ Mike Hou (6:35) and Frederick Guintu (6:44), William S. Reyes Elementary School’s Leeroy Villagomez (6:49), and Richard Steele of MCS (6:52) complete the Top 6 in the U11 boys.

SCS’ Isaiah Aleksenko, as expected, ruled the U9 division with a 6:16 time in completing the 1-mile run. Teammate Kaito Rechurchur settled for second (6:55), while Grace Christian Academy’s Tekru Jim was third (7:20).

Ruben Guerrero of MCS (7:30), and SCS’ Jesus Sablan (7:42) and Derick Kwon (8:21) completes the Top 6.

Kengo Sato of GCA (8:13), WSR’s Cojiro Kaga (8:17), and SCS’ Alfred Baek (8:20), Hiro Rechurchur (8:37), Drei Camacho (9:20), and Jose Sablan (10:22) were the Top 6 runners in the U7 age group.

SCS also won the team trophies in the U7, U9, U11, and U13 divisions, while WSR came in second in the U11.