Veloria, Miller top Dolphin 5.5K run

 Sildrey Veloria and Akiko Miller topped Marianas High School’s Dolphin 5.5K Color Run last Saturday.

The course started and finished at the Garapan Fishing Base with over 100 runners. The run was in celebration of MHS’ 55th anniversary.

Veloria finished first overall with a time of 21:16, followed by Jireh Wang at 21:24, and Michael Miller at 21:51.

In the women’s open division, Miller topped it with a time of 23:48. Second was Gabrielle Race at 31:02, and third was Abbie Kim at 31:15.

There was also an MHS staff division, with MHS teacher Chad Taflinger coming in first at 23:41. Romolo Orsini, MHS’ vice principal, was second at 44:45, and third was MHS teacher, Kadi Camacho, at 54:50. Race was the only woman in the MHS women’s staff division.

Along with the staff division, there was a student division by grade level.

In the 9th grade male division, Dwayne Tabhan came in first with a time of 29:02; a close second was Tristan Que at 29:03; and third was Rooney Gil at 30:44.

In the 9th grade female division, Catherine Pan was first at 31:24; second was Jian Chun with a time of 33:12; and third was Yuxi Zhang who clocked in at 33:24.

The 10th grade male division first place was Takeru Jim at 22:16; second was Mark Costales with 27:52; and third was Jie Jimmy Huang at 32:19.

Maria Batallones was first in the 10th grade female division with her time of 35:40, followed by Hilah Bacani at 36:12, and Jacqlene Torres at 41:41.

Zhi Xiang Lin topped the 11th grade male division with a time of 23:18; second was Jeremiah Maximo at 26:03; and third was Angelo Lobo at 35:29.

In the 11th grade female division, Rizza Relucio finished first at 33:12; second was Rosa Dela Cruz with 39:14; and third was Savannah Flores with a time of 41:18.

The 12th grade male division was dominated by Mokyang Kim at 27:49; second was Isiah Hossain at 29:01 and James Venus was third with 33:50.

Jillian Christi Ferrer was first in the 12th grade female division with a time of 45:02; second was Camille Bisocho at 45:36; and third was Jane Mozunder at 47:45.

Veloria, an MHS alumni, said the race was great. He was actually planning not to run it but said that it’s good practice for future races. He had wished they had events like this during his time in high school, but he was there during the pandemic.

As for Miller, she said the weather was just right, unlike during the Women’s 10K race held the Saturday before when it was so windy. She joined this race with her son, student-athlete Michael Miller, a freshman at MHS, and said that she’s always happy to join races with him. She added that she felt “really good running in the morning with students.”

The event was hosted by the MHS Run Club, the MHS National Honor Society, and Run Saipan.