{"id":335742,"date":"2020-12-28T06:06:43","date_gmt":"2020-12-27T20:06:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=335742"},"modified":"2020-12-28T06:06:43","modified_gmt":"2020-12-27T20:06:43","slug":"agape-extends-reign-in-island-relay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/agape-extends-reign-in-island-relay\/","title":{"rendered":"Agape extends reign in island relay"},"content":{"rendered":"
Agape Christian School A runners do the celebratory jump to the finish line after topping last Saturday\u2019s Northern Marianas Athletics Annual Christmas Island Relay. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For the sixth straight year, Agape Christian School runners emerged as the top finishers in the Northern Marianas Athletics Annual Christmas Island Relay.<\/p>\n

Captain Simon Shan, lead runner Ray Qi, Eason Tang, Peter Hu and Samuel He of Agape Team A completed the 13.7-mile race from Pacific Islands Club in San Antonio to the Last Command Post in Marpi in 1:25:38, finishing ahead of more than 20 teams that participated in NMA\u2019s season-ending event last Saturday morning.<\/p>\n

Agape A took the open division title, reaching the finish line nearly six minutes faster than Crackers and Jack, which had Jack \u201cKetson\u201d Kabiriel, Keith Longuski, Travis Spaeth, and father-and-son Tom and Miles Linden as members. The runner-up squad timed in at 1:31:21. Rounding out the Top 3 in the division was another Agape quintet\u2014Peter Shen, Antonio Li, Timothy Yu, Jim Qui, and Alice Yang. Agape B checked in at 1:32:54.<\/p>\n

Crackers and Jack runners head to the finish line at the Last Command Post. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Agape A\u2019s time in this year\u2019s race from the southern to the northern part of the island is the third fastest in the Torchebearers\u2019 six-year reign in the competition. The best record was made in 2018 with Willian Chen, Kobe Yang, Peter Wang, Jonathan Xiong, and Arthur Liang submitting 1:23:35. Last year, Agape posted 1:25:27, while coach Kok Pang\u2019s top runners registered 1:26:30 in 2017, 1:27:42 in 2016, and 1:29:42 in 2015. The event\u2019s all-time record was under 1:20:00.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery year, our goal is to break our school record. We fell short this year, but we will try again next year,\u201d said Pang.<\/p>\n

With Agape on a roll in the island relay, Pang acknowledged that every team wants to end their domination and that is an added challenge to their runners.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe accept the challenge. It pushes our runners to keep working hard and persevere even though they may be exhausted from doing how many races before competing in the island relay,\u201d Pang added.<\/p>\n