Runners shine in cross country championships

Runners shone as bright as the Saturday morning sun in the 2025-2026 PSS-NMA All Schools Cross Country championships at the Saipan Country Club.

Across rough terrain, puddles, and slippery grass, hundreds of feet pounded through—and when the dust finally settled and sweat still dripped as the sun tried to break through the cloudy skies, the fastest runners claimed their spots on the podium, and the top teams proudly etched their names onto the perpetual trophy for the school year.

The team results are as follows:

Girls High School-

● First place is Agape Christian School with 26 points

● Second place is Saipan International School with 35 points

● Third place is Marianas High School with 43 points

Boys High School-

● First place is SIS with 25 points

● Second place is MHS with 28 points

● Third place is ACS at 29 points

Girls Middle School-

● First place is SIS with 24 points

● Second place is Saipan Community School with 34 points

● Third place is HMS with 61 points

Boys Middle School-

● First place is Hopwood Middle School at 27 points

● Second place is Dandan Middle School with 54 points

● Third place is SIS with 56 points

Elementary School Girls-

● First place is William S. Reyes Elementary School with 40 points

● Second place is Brilliant Star School at 41 points

● Third place is SIS at 85 points

Elementary School Boys-

● First place is Kagman Elementary School at 38 points

● Second place is Brilliant Star School at 56 points

● Third place is WSR at 89 points

In individual standings, once again, SIS’ Victor Nash Santos was the fastest of them all in the boys high school division with a time of 18:42.33; teammate Landen Taflinger came in second at 19:57.81; and third was Marianas High School’s Takeru Jim at 20:12.48.

In the girls high school division, SIS’ Addalee Taflinger came in the fastest with her time of 24:01.42; GCA’s Dianna Yu Zheng snatched second place at 26:30.61; and ACS’ Sablina Shen rounded up the top 3 with a time of 27:07.84.

Making a strong return to cross country, SIS’ Quido Jambor notched first place with a time of 13:16.16; second was HMS’ Nicolo Unay at 14:01.49; and third place went to Dandan Middle School’s Jeffrey Pangelinan II with 14:04.20.

Brilliant Star School’s Lovel Spaeth was the fastest girl in the girls middle school division with a time of 14:53.22; SIS’ Neveah Arriola was second at 15:50.41; and a close third was DMS’ Amica Hornilla.

In the U12 girls elementary school division, Claire Fehrenbacker claimed first place with a time of 7:01.88; second was Iris Qin at 7:18.47; and third was Riem Hernandez with a time of 8:00.15.

As for the U12 boys elementary school division, David Yang was the fastest at 6:31.38; Johnny Shen was second at 6:53.08; and third went to Orion Garde with 6:54.16.

And last but not the least, in the youngest age group, the U9 girls elementary school division, first place went to Chloe Mostales at 7:59.63; and second place was Makenna Pangelinan at 8:08.88; and third was Yile Zhuang at 8:20.21.

In the U9 boys elementary school division, Declan Spaeth was the fastest with his time of 6:31.76; Eliis Fehrenbacker was second at 7:03.97; and third was Jace Brennfleck at 7:13.25.

Santos, a senior at SIS, thanked God after the race. “Being able to come here and being able to finish the season strong, is just a blessing honestly. It feels really good. It’s my last season too, so I’m really satisfied with how it ended.” he added

Addalee, for her part said, “I’m proud of myself and pushing myself and just like having the ability to do this, and just having everyone supporting me, and just running together and pushing together, I like that.”

Spaeth said, “I was worried because a lot of the people I know are really fast and there’s a lot more of the older grades and I’m one of the youngest this year.” She said her win felt good even if she was more nervous this year.

Jambor said, “It feels good to win. I didn’t join last year. In 6th grade, I ran and won all my races except for the final race. In 7th grade, I just took a break. I didn’t wanna do it and this year I came back stronger.”