All Schools cross country draws more than 50 runners

The second leg of the 2008 All Schools Cross Country Championships was a smash hit with more than 50 runners attending the event along Airport Road.

The second warm-up run for the All Schools meet drew runners from Saipan International School, Whispering Palms, Marianas High School, Kagman High School, Hopwood Junior High School, Saipan Community School, and Saipan Southern High School.

Students runners were divided into five age groups, namely the boys and girls’ 8-and-under, 10-and-under, 12-and-under, 14-and-under, and 18-and-under. Participants in the 10-and-under and 12-and-under age groups ran 1,500m, while the two other older age group raced in 5,000m.

In the boys’ 8-and-under division, Andrew Hudkins of SIS posted nine minutes, 25 seconds to finish ahead of teammate Jae Song Park’s time of 9:34 in the first leg.

In the girls’ 10-and-under, first leg winner Gabrielle Race of Whispering Palms is still on top with her 7:28, as second leg participants Amber Patillo and Adele Hudkins of SIS posted 9:20 and 10:58, respectively. SIS’s Emily Jones is in third with 10:19.

Other Top 3 finishers in their respective division after two legs were brothers John (6:40) and Daniel Auther (7:02) of Whispering Palms and SIS’s Elnathan Wong (8:06) in the boys’ 10-and-under.

The girls and boys’ 12-and-under’s Top 3 placers were SCS’s Han Mil Oh (7:56), Lydin Johnson (8:39) and Xian Jun Lu (9:00); Angelo Jones (6:23) of SIS and Peter Mendiola (15:24) and Soon Hyung Kwon (16:17).

In the girls and boys’ 14-and-under division, completing the Top 3 were Hopwood’s Esther Williams (16:00), Jeralyn Castillo (17:32), and Victoria Reves (26:00); Hopwood’s John Cenir (15:25) and Tony Bai (15:26) and SCS’s Justin Poon (15:27).

Lina Manalili of MHS was the lone participant in the girls’ 18-and-under and timed in at 17:47.

MHS had a 1-2 finish in the boys’ 18-and-under with Champ Untalan clocking in at 12:43.01 and Matt Mancao timing in at 12:43.02. Southern’s Lawrence Echon finished third with a time of 13:32.

Meanwhile, the All Schools championship will be held tomorrow with races beginning at 6:30am at the Airport Field.

The Top 3 placers in each age group will receive medals, while trophies will be awarded to the Top 3 schools.

A school will qualify in the team awards if it fields at least five runners in the races. Points will be awarded to each runner to determine the rankings of schools. The first finisher will get a point, two for second, three for third, four for fourth, five for fifth, and so on. The school with the lowest points wins the division. In case of a tie, the school with a sixth finisher wins the tiebreak.

For more information on the cross country series, contact Elias Rangamar at 664-2502.