SIS, ACS, MHS dominate athletics qualifiers

It’s All Schools Track & Field season again and high school and middle school tore up the Oleai Sports Complex track and field on Meet 1 last Wednesday and Meet 2 last Saturday.

Fast and strong athletes from Saipan International School topped their respective heats in the 18U girls 800m, 14U girls 800m, 14U girls 1,500m races, 18U boys javelin throw, 14U girls long jump, and 14U girls shot put throw.

Multi-sport athlete Andrei Kaithlyn Chavez led the way in the 18U girls 800m with a first-place time of 2:39.2. Second was Agape Christian School’s Mary Zhu at 2:56, and third place was ACS’ Sunny Wang at 3:06.

SIS’ Aubrey White topped the 14U girls 800m at 3:02.91; second was Faith Arriola who clocked in at 3:07.95; and third went to Kate Xu at 3:08.20. In the 14U girls 1,500m race, SIS swept the Top 3, with Addalee Taflinger in first at 5:58.56; second was Arriola at 6:35.82; and third went to Leilani Ruszala with a time of 6:52.03.

In the throws, SIS’ Omari Joab threw the farthest in the 18U boys javelin with a best distance of 32.52m; second was Kagman High School’s Anthony Kubo’s throw of 32.11m; and third went to ACS’ Jacob Wang at 31.64m.

SIS’ Beatrice Gross jumped the farthest in the 14U girls long jump at 3.20m; second was Ruszala at 3.09m; and third was ChaCha Ocean View Middle School’s Pualani Dela Cruz at 3.06m.

In the 14U girls shot put throw, SIS’ Zoe Rounan was first with a 6.45m throw, and second was teammate Kate Manglona at 4.07m.

Meanwhile, Agape Christian School also started strong with first place finishes in the 18U girls 1,500m, 14U boys 1,500m, 18U girls discus throw, 18U girls javelin throw.

ACS’ Barbara Wang was first in the 18U girls 1,500 with a time of 6:24.64; second was teammate Emma Pang at 6:42.48; and third was also ACS’ Lucy Hong at 6:51.27.

In the 14U boys 1,500m, ACS’ Raffy Cai topped it at 4:57.94; second went to COVMS’ Jacob Santos at 5:45.19; and third was Francisco M. Sablan Middle School’s Frank Lumanlan at 5:47.51.

In the field events, ACS’ Elim Huang was first in the 18U girls javelin throw at 22.92m; second was KHS’ Ry’ahna Quitano at 17.85m; and third was ACS’ Esther Zhao at 17.10m.

For Marianas High School athletes, they topped the 18U boys 800m, 18U boys 1,500m, 18U boys long jump, and the 18U boys discus throw.

It was a very close finish in the 18U boys 800m first place at MHS’ Cody Shimizu beat out ACS’ Jireh Wang with a time of 2:14.31. Wang was a step behind with a time of 2:14.50. Third went to MHS’ Pony Tang and ACS’ James Fan at 2:21.

MHS’ Michael Miller was first in the 18U boys 1,500m with a time of 4:42.71; second went to Wang at 4:49.55; and third was Fan at 4:51.38.

In field events, MHS’ Mokyang Kim leaped the farthest in the long jump at 5.65m; second was KHS’ Justin Camacho with a distance of 5.13m; and third was SIS’ Sean Park at 4.84m. In the 18U boys discus throw, MHS’ Dereck Rangamar was first with a throw of 26.24m; second was KHS’ Javin Camacho at 25.85; and third was Joab at 24.95.

In other results, GCA’s Julian Taitano led the 18U boys shot put with a distance of 7.74m. He was followed by SIS’ Casey Chambers with 8.74m, and third was SIS’ Sui Yi with 8.65m.

GCA was also first in the U18 girls shot put as Azriel Fatiolofa threw the farthest at 7.95m. ACS’ Silvia Zucca was second with 7.18m, and teammate Esther Zhao was third with 6.4m.

In the 14U boys shot put, FMS’ De’Anthony Aldan topped it with a distance of 8.2m; ACS’ Daniel Yang was second with 7.5m, and COVMS’ Gerard Naputi was third with 6.32m.

Aldan also bested the competition in the 14U boys 800m with a time of 2:31.91. Teammate Keeanu Villanueva was second at 2:37.97, and Yang was third at 2:41.51.

This year, the Public School System Athletics Program and Northern Marianas Athletics added a “qualifying distance” that must be met for student attempts to be measured in an effort to streamline some of their field events and get through all of the participants in a timely manner. Essentially, the organizers studied last year’s qualifying distances for all genders/ages and used them to identify the qualifying distance.

The sponsors for the season are McDonald’s of Saipan, PSS, Northern Marianas Sports Association, Department of Public Safety, Department of Fire & Emergency Medical Services, and Run Saipan.