{"id":414343,"date":"2024-10-15T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-10-15T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=414343"},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-29T14:00:00","slug":"Santos-Taflinger-golden-in-x-country","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/Santos-Taflinger-golden-in-x-country\/","title":{"rendered":"Santos, Taflinger golden in x-country"},"content":{"rendered":"

The fastest qualified cross-country runners took to the last course of the PSS\/NMA All Schools Cross-Country 2024-2025\u2014the championships at the Saipan Vegas Country Club last Saturday morning\u2014with Saipan International School\u2019s Victor Nash Santos and Addalee Taflinger leading the way.<\/p>\n

Cross-country star Santos\u2014who swept all four qualifiers\u2014wrapped up the season in the 3-mile, 2-lap course with a golden run of 18:23. Agape Christian School\u2019s Jireh Wang was silver at 18:43, while Marianas High School\u2019s Takeru Jim settled for bronze at 18:45.<\/p>\n

The high school junior actually took a break from running but came back stronger and more motivated this season. In the championships, he was behind a runner after the first lap, but picked up the pace and left everyone in his dust in the second and final lap.<\/p>\n

On his championship win and sweep of the whole season, he said, \u201cI feel good. I want to thank Jesus Christ because he helped me. I woke up every day to train and grind, but I wouldn\u2019t have done this without him.\u201d<\/p>\n

With his exceptional sweep of all the cross-country qualifiers, he said he felt a lot of pressure to win the championships. \u201cI felt a lot of pressure on me after winning all the qualifiers, but in the end, it helped me because I didn\u2019t want to lose. I\u2019ll only get better from here,\u201d said Santos.<\/p>\n

After he made his way back to running again after a disappointing performance in the all-schools track and field event last school year that demotivated him, he said, \u201cI found my way again and I\u2019m just glad to be here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last cross-country season, he finished third in the championships and was happy with that. This season, he pushed for gold because he said he wouldn\u2019t have been happy and satisfied with anything less.<\/p>\n

As for the girls division, there\u2019s a new champion this year.<\/p>\n

Up-and-coming runner and high school freshman Taflinger, who bagged three out of four qualifiers, finished her golden run at 23:29. ACS\u2019 Sablina Shen was silver at 23:53, while Mary Zhu was bronze at 25:02.<\/p>\n

The 14-year-old was the fastest girl this year as last year\u2019s champion, schoolmate Andrei Kaithlyn Chavez, did not compete after the second qualifier due to an injury. With that, Taflinger said she wished Chavez was there because it was her last year who pushed me to do better.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for the course, Taflinger said, \u201cIt was good. It was really slippery and there were small hills, but my team and I had been training on hills and different terrains.\u201d<\/p>\n

Results of the middle school and elementary school divisions will be posted in the next issues of Saipan Tribune.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Top 3 of the girls and boys high school division pose with their medals and Northern Marianas Athletics president Ray Tebuteb during the awards ceremony of the PSS\/NMA All Schools Cross-Country 2024-2025 championships at the Saipan Vegas Country Club last Saturday morning.<\/p>\n

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<\/p>\n

Boys high school cross-country champion, Saipan International School\u2019s Victor Nash Santos, celebrates as he runs toward the finish line of the PSS\/NMA All Schools Cross-Country 2024-2025 championships at the Saipan Vegas Country Club last Saturday morning.<\/p>\n

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<\/p>\n

Girls high school cross country champion, Saipan International School\u2019s Addalee Taflinger, has her game face on as she crosses the finish line of the PSS\/NMA All Schools Cross-Country 2024-2025 championships at the Saipan Vegas Country Club last Saturday morning.<\/p>\n

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