SIS sprints to MS girls athletics champs

Saipan International School Lady Geckos won the girls athletics team championship in the 14U middle school division of the PSS/McDonald’s All Schools Track and Field 2023-2024 championships last Friday night and Saturday morning at the Oleai Sports Complex track and field.

The Lady Geckos gathered a whopping 172 points for the gold medal, while silver went to Tinian Jr. High School at 76 points, and bronze was Dandan Middle School with 44 points.

The SIS track stars first swept the 800m race. Gold went to Addalee Taflinger with a time of 2:40.27. Silver was teammate Faith Arriola at 2:49.27, while bronze was right behind and clocked in at 2:50.07.

Taflinger grabbed gold again, this time in the 400m race with her time of 1:05.58. Silver was TJHS’ Ysabella Lenteja with 1:08.49. Bronze went to SIS’ Aubrey White at 1:10.63.

For the third time, Taflinger fancied herself another gold medal after leaving everyone in the dust in the 3,000m race (no time listed); silver was teammate Arriola (no time listed); and bronze was Agape Christian School’s Sabrina Shen (no time listed).

Another gold for Taflinger was won in the 1,500m race at 6:10.46. Silver was Arriola with a time of 6:17.48, while bronze was Adalee West who clocked in at 6:22.90.

SIS’ Beatrice Gross then grabbed silver in the 100m sprints with her time of 14.43 seconds. Gold was won by Lenteja who ran under 14 seconds at 13.75. Bronze was White who clocked in at 14.53 seconds.

In the 200m, White bagged silver with a time of 29.84 seconds. Gold went to Lenteja at 29.42 seconds, while bronze was Gross at 30.67.

The 4x100m saw SIS win another gold medal with a time of 57 seconds. DMS won silver with a time of 1:00.52, while bronze went to bronze Grace Christian Academy who collectively clocked in at 1:03.19.

The SIS’ relay team was superior once again as they sprinted to gold in the 4x400m race at 4:51.47. Silver went to DMS at 5:21.25, while bronze was ACS at 5:33.51.

In the field event discus throw, White claimed silver as she threw a 18.07m mark. Gold was TJHS’ Ka’isa San Nicolas at 20.34m, while bronze was Taflinger with a mark of 15.38m.

SIS coach Angela Taflinger said after the awards ceremony that the team’s hard work and team work paid off.

“They all did amazing. I’m so proud of their ability to get together, not as individual athletes, but together as a team,” she said. “They worked on their relays, and you can see how smooth their handoffs were. Their encouragement from one another was amazing. It just shows that we’re a family, and they came to prove that today.”

As for how it felt to win the title after a third-place finish last year, she said, “It feels great. They worked hard. These kids came out all season—pushed it and challenged themselves, and gave it 110% in every event that they did, so I’m very proud of them.”

She added that the season was great but that they had a three-week break between the last meet and the championships. Even with that, she said the team “showed up to all the practices and continued to push themselves—what a way to end the school year.”