GUAM HIGH BOYS, ST. JOHN’S GIRLS TAKE IIAAG CROSS COUNTRY TITLE

By Paradis Jolie Fejerang

High school athletes for the IIAAG cross-country season took their final laps of the season on the muggy Guam High course.

Anticipated winners St. John’s male and female teams put up a fight, but their boys were just beaten by Guam High’s swift team.

Male Varsity Finals

Taking the top spots right from the start were two seniors, Guam High’s Nathaniel Carlson and St. John’s Alexander Clark. Both boys paced the majority of the run together, but Carlson pulled to the front with a sizable gap during the last lap.

Carlson regards that taking the top was a very humbling experience and the wet course did not help. “I slipped four times and had to keep getting up. It was hard on me mentally, but I was able to push through and am happy with how it ended.”

Both the Guam High Panthers and St. John’s Knights kept the front of the pack’s colors blue and red, not allowing any other schools to compete for a top 10 spot. One lone Harvest athlete made his way into the third place spot with a steady pace behind the top two star runners.

With the gold and silver medals being a gamble between the Panthers and Knights, for the rest of the schools, it was a fight for third place. Although Harvest got in some good times, the Friars were able to seize the bronze medal.

Female Varsity Finals

The season’s frontrunners took the gold that St. John’s senior, Maeva Conroy, was hoping for. “It was a little reality check. I ended the race and I was crying happy tears,” Conroy shared her pride for not only herself but for her young team. “It’s a bittersweet end. I had been really excited about the season and it turned out well for me.”

With only six girls on their team, every single Knight had to pull through to achieve their goal of receiving a medal this year. The girl’s more than exceeded expectations in nabbing the gold with every single athlete being within the top 20.

Conroy, along with Guam High’s Aubrey Frank and Academy’s Taylor-Ann Santos, were the dominating trio to look out for this season. The three stayed together from the start, but Santos started to fall behind while Frank worked to keep up with Conroy for as long as she could.

Guam High’s Panthers were able to grab the silver while Harvest was able to squeeze into the bronze spot with just two points over Academy’s athletes.

Final Scores

Males

1. Nathaniel Carlson, Guam High, 12 – 17:37.28
2. Alexander Clark, St. John’s, 12 – 17:43.47
3. Elijah Dixo, Harvest, 11 – 18:12.91
4. Eldon Egbert, Guam High, 9 – 18:17.58
5. Jackson Fulkerson-Smith, St. John’s, 9 – 18:27.87
6. Wesly Augustine, Guam High, 10 – 18:46.87
7. Clay Martin, Guam High, 10 – 18:48.17
8. Race Baden, St. John’s, 9 – 19:20.12
9. Brandon Neilson, Guam High, 10 – 19:33.69
10. Ercell Miller, Guam High, 11 – 19:39.69

Team

1. Guam High – 27
2. St. John’s – 41
3. Father Duenas – 82

Females

1. Maeva Conroy, St. John’s, 12 – 21:46.73
2. Aubrey Frank, Guam High, 12 – 22:47.69
3. Taylor-Ann Santos, Academy, 12 – 22:55.07
4. Elizabeth Higley, St. John’s, 11 – 23:29.25
5. Hazel Wilson, St. John’s, 10 – 23:45.38
6. Bekah Tavarez, Harvest, 9 – 23:51.89
7. Almira Carlson, Guam High, 10 – 23:56.25
8. Brianni Soto, Guam High, 11 – 24:14.16
9. Sujin Oh, St. John’s, 9 – 24:18.30
10. Hayden Thompson, Harvest, 10 – 24:24.57

Team

1. St. John’s – 33
2. Guam High – 41
3. Harvest – 91

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