Palau High School (PHS) took home the first-place trophy at the 5-kilometer inter-school Cross-Country (XC) Championship on Wednesday, closing the Cross-Country season.
The Championship race brought together 121 students from PHS, Mindszenty High School (MHS), Palau Mission Academy (PMA), and Emmaus Bethania High School (EBHS). The race, beginning at Palau Pacific Resort (PPR) and ending at the National Track, took place on PHS’ home-route, as determined from PHS’ leading score throughout the season.
PHS’ victory breaks Mindszenty’s five-year winning streak.
Winning first place in the XC boys’ category was Mason Chapman from PHS, who finished the 5k run in 20 minutes and 11 seconds. Winning second place was Righeous Adaba, also from PHS, who finished in 20 minutes and 54 seconds. Coming in third place was Kaekoa Mamis from MHS, who finished in 21 minutes and 10 seconds, followed by Ian Francisco from MHS, followed by Masato Inoue from PHS.
Winning first place in the girls’ category was Sydney Francisco from PHS, who finished in 26 minutes and 27 seconds. Winning second place was Laisang Baiei from PHS, who finished in 27 minutes and 11 seconds. Coming in third place was Anaya Masang from MHS, who finished in 27 minutes and 18 seconds, followed by Kezoya Eichi from PHS, followed by Ikelau Misch from PHS.
The overall championship, which is scored by combining and averaging the placement of the top five runners from each school, went to PHS. Second-place went to MHS, followed by PMA in third, and EBHS in fourth.
The race follows five previous track meets in the season, each hosted on a different school’s home-route. Belau Modekngei School (BMS), although it did not participate in the Championship, competed throughout the season.
Inter-school Track and Field competitions are scheduled to begin again in the spring semester.
PHS triumphs at XC Championship
