FIELD EVENTS, 1500M HIGHLIGHT THIRD TRACK & FIELD MEET

By Jay Leon Guerrero

The 2022 ISA Track & Field season is at its halfway point and there are more athletes finding their groove in their respective events. Athletes had an overcast and a slight drizzle of rain blessing the JFK track Friday night but that did not stop action.

After a small issue with the electronic time scoring for the earlier events, the rest of the meet was back on track, no pun intended.

In the boys shotput event, Southern High junior Jhavin Maniebo had the farthest throw of 12.93 meters. In second place, Guam Adventist Academy’s Carlos Poppe threw for 11.36 meters; Zian Benavente from JFK was third with a distance of 11.00 meters.

Despite winning the shotput event, Maniebo said his best event is the discus. “Last year as a sophomore in Japan (Yokosuka) during the Far East Meet, I threw for 40 meters. I haven’t been able to do that yet during a meet but I’m hoping to so soon,” said Maniebo. Maniebo won the discus in meet 3 with a distance of 31.79 meters.

“In the shotput, I’ve thrown for 14 meters in practice, I’m hoping to get those distances as well,” said Maniebo. Maniebo said he already holds the Southern High school record for the discus and his distance of 40 meters is close to the high school record. “I’m not sure what the record is exactly, but it would be nice to break that”.

In the girls discus event, Amoni Washington was first with a distance of 23.33 meters. Crystal Lopez from Southern High was second was a 22.43 meter throw. George Washington’s sophomore sensation Melody Rosario was first in the shotput with a distance of 8.41 meters.

GW resurgence

The GW Geckos had a strong showing with athletes in different events placing in the top 3. Nathan Castro won the boys 400 meter event and was in the top 3 in the 100 meter and 200 meter events. Jordan Baden won the girls 3000 meter event and Aleah Castro won the girls 400 meter event and the 100 meter hurdles.

Baden attends St. John’s and because her school does not have a team, she decided to play for GW. “I ran for coach Des (Desmond Mandell III) as a freshman at St. John’s, for cross country” said Baden. “He is the main reason I chose to run for GW and I’m glad I did”.

“I’m also glad to be running for GW because the team was so welcoming and I made lots of friends. The team is getting stronger and more athletes are getting their PR’s in their events. We just want to do our best and we hope to have good results for the all-island meet,” said Baden.

1500 meter showdown

All eyes were on the track for a big race between Guam High’s Alex Rink and JFK’s Hugh Kent and Mark Imazu. Rink set the pace early but with one lap to go, Imazu surged ahead. With 200 meters left, Kent started kicking and took the lead. Down the final stretch, Kent and Rink were sprinting to the finish. Kent held on as both runners dropped after the race in exhaustion.

Kent, who won the 3000 meters earlier with an unofficial time of 9:57, finished the 1500 at 4:23.81. Rink finished second at 4:24.21 and Imazu clocked in at 4:35.29. Fans can’t wait to see the 1500 meter showdown at the All-Island Meet. Both Kent and Rink ran their PR times in the race. 

“I still have the confidence from last year,” said Kent. “For me, last year the races had a gap, and then Alex (Rink) came out. So this year, I’m going to have to be faster than last year because he’s running slightly faster than I was last year,” said Kent. Rink won the 1500 meter event last week with a time of 4:25.95, Kent was second with a time of 4:34.83. Look for both to push each other in a friendly rivalry. 

As far as the team goes for JFK, both Kent and Imazu said they lost some key seniors. “I have a different role this year,” said Imazu.

“There’s some new athletes, some never did track before so my role is big.”

– JFK’s Mark Imazu

Imazu said the team will do better with more motivation and hard work during practice. 

Jumps
JFK’s Maria Calvo won both the triple and long jump with distances of 9.74 meters and 4.52 meters, respectively. Calvo edged out Taylor-Ann Santos from Academy in the long jump with a distance if 4.45 meters.

In the boys division, Jared Aguon swept both long and triple jump events. Aguon’s 5.48 meter was good enough for first in meet 3, Dean Masnayon from Tiyan was second with 5.30 meters. Aguon topped the leader board in the triple with an impressive 12.62 meter distance. Father Duenas triple jumpers Dylan Francisco and Dann Bilong were second and third, respectively, with jumps of 10.94 and 10.92 meters.

Meet 4 will be next week Monday at the JFK track. The first event starts at 4 pm.

Here are the results from week 3:
https://www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/meet/454741/results

PHOTO GALLERY BY BEN LEON GUERRERO

BROUGHT TO YOU BY: