Runners take their trade Cross Country

After weeks of training and qualifying, local runners with a flair for long distances finally had a chance to show off their stuff at the All-School Cross Country Championships held at the CPA Airport field Saturday.

The children in the 9-and-under category ran one mile, and for the girls it was Liane Riley of Saipan Community School who took the tape with a time of 7:14. Riley outlasted Renalyn Borja of Tinian Elementary School, who finished with a time of 7:40.

While Saipan and Tinian split the top spots in the girls, the boys of Saipan finished one-two-three. Ryan Baron of Whispering Palms was the first to cross the line, and the fastest to finish the distance for the day with a 6:38. R.J. Knecht of Calvary Christian Academy wasn’t far behind with a 6:52, and Garrett Gipson of the NMC Lab School took third with a 7:19.

The boys and girls of the 11-and-under also ran the one-mile course, and local track star Reylynn Sapong of Koblerville Elementary School left the rest of the girls in her dust with a time of 6:40. Lisa Riley of SCS finished a few steps off the pace with a 6:58 in second place, while Lia’Mwar Rangamar of Grace Christian Academy took third with a time of 7:26.

While the girls of Saipan swept the winner’s stand, the team award went to Tinian Elementary School, which finished with 30 points. The boys didn’t leave as much to chance, as they took four of the Top 5 spots.

Sydney Quan of SCS was the swiftest male miler with a time of 6:51, but a mere 10 seconds behind was Leigh Enriquez of TES with 7:01. Eddie Manalili of Garapan Elementary School took third with a time of 7:33, followed by Ardel Tumbaga of SCS with a 7:36.

With added age comes added responsibility—and distance. The older kids in the 13-and-under had to leg-out a little more than double the distance of the youngsters, and Chang Wang of Hopwood Junior High School was by far the fastest female finisher with a time of 14:36 over the 2.1-mile course.

Classmate Azumi Ishida finished in second place with 19:01, and Yae Wang of William S. Reyes Elementary School came in third with 19:16 round out the top three.

The boys of SCS dominated the course, as En Hong Pang streaked across the finish line with a time of 13:29 and second place Rezne Wong with a 13:44. Were it not for the 14:26 third place finish by Donnie Dosalua of Tinian Junior High School, they would have swept the Top 3.

SCS won the first place team award with the fewest points at 25, while Hopwood finished in second with 23.

The young men and women of the 18-and-under category were tasked with the identical mission as the 13-and-under field of racers, but they were able to rocket around the course with ease.

Marianas High School distance runner Bo Wang always seems to finish first, and last Saturday was no different. Wang literally ran away with the tape, as her 13:40 beat her closest competitor by just over two minutes.

Nina Mosley was the only runner in her age group from Marianas Baptist Academy. She displayed her talents as she finished in second place with a time of 15:41, ahead of third place finisher Gresil Mendiola of MHS at 16:10.

The boy’s race was more of a one-on-one competition between Tinian High School and the MHS Dolphins, but Jeremy Winkfield was the man with the plan. Winkfield was the first to finish the 2.1-mile course with his time of 12:49 to give MHS the fastest individual time, and he edged out Craig Borja of THS (13:01) and the home schooled Caleb Gabbie (13:27).

Winkfield’s individual time wasn’t enough for the Dolphins, as the team from Tinian won the team award with 34 points.