DRAGONS CHAMPS OF IIAAG MS CROSS COUNTRY, RINK & BECKENHAUER TOP ALL-ISLAND MEET

By Jay Leon Guerrero

Hundreds of spectators witnessed the 2021 Middle School All-Island Cross Country Meet held Monday afternoon at the Harvest Christian Academy School Campus.  The Island’s top IIAAG Middle School runners gathered in one location for their season finale with the boys running first followed by the girls.

Jadyel Rink, an 8th grader representing the McCool Seahawks, finished first overall with a time of 8 minutes and 39 seconds. Allie Beckenhauer from the Andersen Middle School Dragons took the individual honors in the girl’s division with a time of 9 minutes and 54 seconds.

“I saw the amount of people here today and felt some pressure to do well. But I’ve been having success so far this season and just tried my best,” said Rink.

The crowd did not seem to get to Rink as he started off the race in a fast pace and maintained his lead. Rink said that with every meet he saw improvement in his PR (personal record) times.

“With every race I was doing better, I actually broke my PR by 20 seconds today,” stated Rink.

Coming in second place was Rink’s teammate Talan Farrington who also managed to clock in before the 9-minute mark. A pair of Andersen Dragons followed with Clay Martin and J.C. Garcia coming in a respectable 3rd and 4th place. 

Back-to-back championBeckenhauer was the only female runner to clock in under 10 minutes with a time of 9 minutes and 54 seconds. Beckenhauer, an eighth grader, said she wanted to get this victory before she moves off-island. 

“I woke up this morning and told myself that this race was going to be good no matter where I finished or what my time would be,” said Beckenhauer.

“I’m leaving in June of next year. This team is like family to me, I made many friends on this team and my best friend is also on this team. Last year, many of my teammates moved off-island and we got some new teammates. We really made the best out of it,” said Beckenhauer. 

Coming in a respectable second place in the girl’s division was St. John’s runner Hayden Wilson with a time of 10:25. Andersen Dragons occupied the rest of the top five positions with Jordynn Crandell, Addison White and Julianna Regalado finishing third, fourth and fifth, respectively. 

After the meet, there was a presentation for the team champions and the Dragons celebrated a double victory, winning both team championships.

 Boy’s Team champions:
1st place: Andersen Dragons
2nd place: McCool Seahawks
3rd place: Harvest Eagles

Girl’s Team Girls
1st place: Andersen Dragons
2nd place: Santa Barbara
3rd place: Harvest Eagles 

Top 10 Girls
1. Allie Beckenhauer (AMS) – 9:54
2. Hayden Wilson (SJS) – 10:25
3. Jordenn Crandell (AMS) – 10:40
4. Addison White (AMS) – 10:49
5. Julianna Regalado (AMS) – 10:52
6. Donna Entera (SBCS) – 11:00
7. Hazel Wilson (SJS) – 11:05
8. Bekah Tavarez (HCA) – 11:07
9. Sarah Denzer (AMS) – 11:08
10. Azariah Fair (MEMS) 11:19

Top 10 Boys
1. Jadyel Rink (MC) – 8:39
2. Talan Farrington (MC) – 8:57
3. Clay Martin (AMS) – 9:08
4. J.C. Garcia (AMS) -9:32
5. Micah Elwell (HCA) – 9:33
6. Sean Halehale (BBMS) – 9:34
7. Chase Cobb (AMS) – 9:39
8. Rai Flores (SJS) – 9:41
9. Gabriel Dixon (HCA) – 9:43
10. Race Baden (SJS) – 9:44