ISLANDERS FINISH ON TOP OF 2021 ISA CROSS COUNTRY

By Robert Balajadia

The JFK Islanders wrapped up the 2021 ISA Cross Country Season by sweeping both the boys and girls titles at the JFK course Tuesday evening.

Along with the team title, the Islanders also celebrated the meet with a 1st place finisher in Hugh Kent. The sophomore was also the first finisher in last years meet, retaining his title for a second go. Kent ran a 17:37, but feels like there’s room for improvement.

“I don’t think I’m running at a high level yet. If you look back about three years ago, the fast runners were hitting 17’s and 16’s so I feel like the level might have dropped down, but I know I’m not there yet,” admitted Kent.

Kent began his high school career in the middle of the pandemic, which has even affected his 2021 season with the teams oddly running in December.

“Both of my years so far have been odd seasons so it’s really hard to compare if starting at the usual time would make a difference,” said Kent on the season ending right before Christmas break.

The Islanders secured the boys title in dominant fashion grabbing the top spot with Kent but also spots 4-through-7 to leave no room for doubt.

For the girls, Sanchez Shark Marie Gatbonton kept her unbeaten streak going right into the final race, topping at 22:03. Gatbonton was already putting together an impressive senior campaign heading into Tuesday’s finale and she wasn’t about to let up.

“I feel great because I put my all in this race. I also want to give praise and glory to God for giving me the strength for this race. Even though I didn’t accomplish my goal, which was to get a sub 21, but I’m proud I finished strong,” said Gatbonton as she reflected on coming in first.

Preparation was key for Gatbonton as she started eating clean two weeks prior to the race as well as getting in some valuable time on the course to plan her strategy. Teams were given last week Thursday and Friday to practice the course which Marie felt played a big factor.

“We did a lot of studying on the course trying to jot down the first mile, second mile and such. I already knew where I was going to make my move,” said Marie.

The Islanders captured key spots in five and six with freshman Ai Kanamori and senior Chasity Minor locking down those spots. A key 12th spot finish from Shakira Esma proved big for JFK, helping secure their All-Island title.

First finisher for JFK Trixia Nierva reflected on the teams big win after starting the season with just two runners in their first meet, but finishing 1st place for the third consecutive year.

“It was just a week of full tick, telling [the team] to be determined, even I needed to be determined… I think we did really well despite us not having as many practices as a team,” said Nierva.

JFK came in as slight underdogs with the GW Geckos being the lone unbeaten girls team all season, so much so that even the Islanders were intimidated.

“All of us were scared of GW,” admitted Nierva. “Some of us were crying before the race, but I had to tell them not to let it get in their head. I told them to run your race and just treat it like a normal day. I can see that the team did their best because we were all happy at the end.”

Team Points Girls
JFK – 33
GW – 54
Sanchez – 68
Okkodo – 88
Tiyan – 116

Team Points Boys
JFK – 23
GW – 83
Sanchez – 96
GAA – 108
Okkodo – 108
Southern – 112
Tiyan – 195

full results will be posted below photo gallery

PHOTO GALLERY BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

Varsity Girls 5000 Meter Run
=================================================================
Name Yr Team Time Pts
—————————————————————–
1 Marie Gatbonton 12 Simon Sanchez High S 22:03.68 1
2 Trixia Nierva 11 John F. Kennedy High 22:24.01 2
3 Robin Cruz 10 George Washington Hi 23:29.12 3
4 Cheyoung Ahn Southern High School 24:49.84
5 Ai Kanamori 9 John F. Kennedy High 24:52.95 4
6 Chasity Minor 12 John F. Kennedy High 25:01.61 5
7 Aleah Castro 10 George Washington Hi 25:49.21 6
8 Cheyunne Ahn Southern High School 25:59.18
9 Chloe Flores 12 Simon Sanchez High S 26:04.14 7
10 Aubrey Blas 11 Tiyan High School 26:09.22 8
11 Arriola Jena 9 Simon Sanchez High S 26:15.41 9
12 Shakira Esma 11 John F. Kennedy High 26:22.70 10
13 Kokona Okada 11 Okkodo High School 26:24.31 11
14 Patricia Miclat 9 John F. Kennedy High 26:45.39 12
15 Danie Aguon 12 George Washington Hi 27:05.95 13
16 Yoon Chung 12 John F. Kennedy High 27:07.74 14
17 Rhylaieh Taitano 9 George Washington Hi 27:29.69 15
18 Eliza Manacmul 12 Okkodo High School 28:16.12 16
19 Madison Leon Guerrero 10 George Washington Hi 29:05.26 17
20 Amanda Uncangco 12 George Washington Hi 29:16.63 18
21 Sarah Cabaltera 11 Okkodo High School 29:21.82 19
22 Jayna Rose Cruz 9 Okkodo High School 30:47.48 20
23 Annika Miclat 10 John F. Kennedy High 30:49.22 21
24 Tiffany Nguyen 11 Okkodo High School 31:14.73 22
25 Mckenzie Matthews 9 Tiyan High School 32:05.03 23
26 Skyler Verango 9 Simon Sanchez High S 32:48.89 24
27 Aubry Cruz 11 George Washington Hi 33:40.43 25
28 Nichelle Torcelino 9 John F. Kennedy High 35:04.23
29 Eyana Duenas 9 Tiyan High School 35:25.34 26
30 Chae Camilla Ragadio 11 George Washington Hi 36:10.21
31 Alexa Tangalan 11 George Washington Hi 37:51.32
32 Adrianna Sepulia 9 Simon Sanchez High S 40:57.27 27
33 Kimiko Enriquez 11 Okkodo High School 43:23.03 28
34 Melody Rosario 10 George Washington Hi 44:35.15
35 Ann Rojo Tiyan High School 46:12.64 29
36 Rebekah Wolphagen 11 Tiyan High School 46:45.92 30
Varsity Girls 5000 Meter Run Team Scores
=================================================================
Team Pts 1 2 3 4 5 (6) (7)
=================================================================
1 John F. Kennedy High 33 2 4 5 10 12 14 21
2021 ISA XC All-Island Championship Page 2 of 3
Total Time: 2:05:27 Average: 25:05.34 1-5 Split: 4:22
2 George Washington Hi 54 3 6 13 15 17 18 25
Total Time: 2:13:00 Average: 26:35.85 1-5 Split: 5:37
3 Simon Sanchez High S 68 1 7 9 24 27 – –
Total Time: 2:28:10 Average: 29:37.88 1-5 Split: 18:54
4 Okkodo High School 88 11 16 19 20 22 28 –
Total Time: 2:26:05 Average: 29:12.90 1-5 Split: 4:51
5 Tiyan High School 116 8 23 26 29 30 – –
Total Time: 3:06:39 Average: 37:19.63 1-5 Split: 20:37
Varsity Boys 5000 Meter Run
=================================================================
Name Yr Team Time Pts
—————————————————————–
1 Hugh Kent 10 John F. Kennedy High 17:37.05 1
2 Danny Quinata 12 Southern High School 18:40.63 2
3 Teo Galvez 12 Simon Sanchez High S 18:47.26 3
4 Landon Taitingfong 11 John F. Kennedy High 18:55.32 4
5 Ivan Aguilar 11 John F. Kennedy High 19:38.26 5
6 Isaac Valdez 10 John F. Kennedy High 19:42.69 6
7 Thomas Cepeda 11 John F. Kennedy High 19:44.13 7
8 Jadrian Juico 12 Okkodo High School 19:50.21 8
9 Jone Gimoto 11 Okkodo High School 20:14.69 9
10 Robert Cruz 12 George Washington Hi 20:30.54 10
11 Samuel Jung 10 Guam Adventist Acade 20:50.66 11
12 Genoel Asuncion 10 Okkodo High School 21:19.32 12
13 Aiden Uncangco 9 George Washington Hi 21:23.24 13
14 Gabriel Hollingsworth 10 Southern High School 21:31.83 14
15 Dino Sato 9 John F. Kennedy High 21:37.04 15
16 Evan Tydingco 9 John F. Kennedy High 21:38.55 16
17 Jonathon Arriola 10 Simon Sanchez High S 21:41.03 17
18 David Jay Osborn 10 George Washington Hi 21:52.13 18
19 Wyatt Oh 9 Guam Adventist Acade 21:56.52 19
20 Kyle Garcia 10 George Washington Hi 22:10.94 20
21 Collin Naputi 10 Southern High School 22:17.79 21
22 Sean Echang 9 George Washington Hi 22:18.78 22
23 Don-Keen Lloyd 11 Guam Adventist Acade 22:24.15 23
24 Damen Weilbacher 11 John F. Kennedy High 22:29.32
25 Dru Sangueza 12 Simon Sanchez High S 22:37.03 24
26 Pablo Castro 10 Simon Sanchez High S 22:41.78 25
27 Elliott Retumban 12 Guam Adventist Acade 22:57.30 26
28 Allan Simon 12 Simon Sanchez High S 22:57.80 27
29 Frank Ambunan 11 John F. Kennedy High 23:01.81
30 Warren Ortega 11 Simon Sanchez High S 23:04.62 28
31 Joash Jano-Edward 12 Guam Adventist Acade 23:20.72 29
32 Josh Gatbonton 10 Simon Sanchez High S 23:25.19 30
33 Delevan Matthews 11 Tiyan High School 23:27.88 31
34 Aaron Duenas 12 George Washington Hi 23:37.79 32
35 Gavyn Balbas 11 John F. Kennedy High 23:44.36
36 William Flores 10 Guam Adventist Acade 23:45.15 33
37 Mykael Santos 9 Simon Sanchez High S 23:46.68
38 Elijah Jano-Edward 9 Guam Adventist Acade 23:51.71 34
2021 ISA XC All-Island Championship Page 3 of 3
39 Tyler Ando 9 John F. Kennedy High 23:51.98
40 Arthur Oclima 11 George Washington Hi 23:55.72 35
41 Scott Aflague 11 Okkodo High School 23:56.03 36
42 Tyler Crisostomo 10 Southern High School 24:44.30 37
43 Patrick Sumbo 10 Southern High School 24:53.15 38
44 Jonel Edrosolo 12 Simon Sanchez High S 24:58.19
45 Rick Uy 9 George Washington Hi 25:10.12
46 John Medina 12 Simon Sanchez High S 25:20.12
47 Joseph Olarte 11 Simon Sanchez High S 25:23.52
48 Tristan Reyes 11 John F. Kennedy High 25:42.60
49 Joshua Delampuri 12 Tiyan High School 25:49.56 39
50 Paul Gumataotao Tiyan High School 26:01.10 40
51 Conor Flory 11 Tiyan High School 26:07.69 41
52 James Trescopna 10 Southern High School 26:08.55 42
53 Cain Esteban 11 Okkodo High School 26:12.20 43
54 Ivan Japitana 10 George Washington Hi 26:23.02
55 Ben Barcinas 11 Tiyan High School 26:26.16 44
56 John Lapid 9 John F. Kennedy High 28:00.81
57 Tristin Acfalle 10 Southern High School 28:29.50 45
58 Charles Almonte 12 Simon Sanchez High S 29:06.33
59 Aaron Vice 12 Tiyan High School 33:53.65 46
Varsity Boys 5000 Meter Run Team Scores
=================================================================
Team Pts 1 2 3 4 5 (6) (7)
=================================================================
1 John F. Kennedy High 23 1 4 5 6 7 15 16
Total Time: 1:35:38 Average: 19:07.49 1-5 Split: 2:08
2 George Washington Hi 83 10 13 18 20 22 32 35
Total Time: 1:48:16 Average: 21:39.13 1-5 Split: 1:49
3 Simon Sanchez High S 96 3 17 24 25 27 28 30
Total Time: 1:48:45 Average: 21:44.98 1-5 Split: 4:11
4 Guam Adventist Acade 108 11 19 23 26 29 33 34
Total Time: 1:51:30 Average: 22:17.87 1-5 Split: 2:31
5 Okkodo High School 108 8 9 12 36 43 – –
Total Time: 1:51:33 Average: 22:18.49 1-5 Split: 6:22
6 Southern High School 112 2 14 21 37 38 42 45
Total Time: 1:52:08 Average: 22:25.54 1-5 Split: 6:13
7 Tiyan High School 195 31 39 40 41 44 46 –
Total Time: 2:07:53 Average: 25:34.48 1-5 Split: 2:59