SAIPAN — Saipan International School’s Landen and Addalee Taflinger swept the high school individual titles at the Early Bird meet Friday evening at the Civic Center course near Kilili Beach, opening the PSS/NMA All Schools Cross Country season with a family double.
Landen Taflinger won the boys’ three-mile race in 19:40.29, well clear of Agape Christian School’s James Feng at 22:37.98 and Benny Li at 22:40.48. Addalee Taflinger took the girls’ title in 23:39.09, ahead of ACS’s Sablina Shen and Grace Christian Academy’s Daianna Zheng. A third sibling, Kaylen Taflinger, placed ninth in the middle school girls’ race.
In the team standings, ACS won the high school boys’ title with 15 points over SIS at 24 and Marianas High School at 44, while SIS claimed the high school girls’ crown with 25 points, edging MHS at 27 and ACS at 28. Hopwood Middle School took both middle school team titles, winning the boys’ division on a fifth-runner tiebreaker over ACS.
The middle school individual races went to ACS’s Chris Cai, who covered the two-mile course in 14:06.36, and Saipan Community School’s Amethyst Winkfield at 17:00.23. In all, 114 athletes ran across the four divisions.
The season continues with the NMA Invitational on September 12 at the airport field, Run Saipan on September 19 at American Memorial Park, and the SIS Gecko 5000 on September 26 at Banzai, open to Tinian and Rota schools, ahead of the October 10 championships. Runners need at least one qualifier to compete at the championship meet.
