Wrong turn costs Barcinas cross-country title, Sakaguchi wins boys individual title
After missing last year's All-Island Cross-Country Championships due to the COVID-19 virus she contracted, which she told The Guam Daily Post made her very sick, George Washington High School Geckos' Gwenizah Barcinas was forced to wait a year to compete for the coveted title.
But the week before the 2024 Guam Department of Education Interscholastic Sports Association Girls All-Island Cross-Country Championships, which took place Thursday at Guam High School in Agana Heights, Barcinas was stricken by a mystery illness. Barcinas' mother, Lisa, told the Post that doctors weren't sure if her sickness was viral or bacterial, but her daughter healed and returned to practice.
"I'm clear. Let's go," Barcinas remembers telling her mother.
With the illness behind her and 5 kilometers in front of her to the 2024 girls All-Island championship, Barcinas was dead set on capturing the elusive title.
She was excited to compete.
With eight other schools competing and the stands packed with spectators, Barcinas ran what seemed to be a perfect race. Each time the lead runners entered the oval, Barcinas led the pack. As she entered the oval for a final time and kicked hard for the finish line, everyone was behind her. Nobody was close. And as she entered the finishers chute, she extended her arms to her sides and a look of contentment filled her as she was overcome with a sense of accomplishment and joy.
She had run a perfect race, or so she thought. She was a champion – she thought that, too.
Moments after finishing first, Barcinas was disqualified. Apparently, earlier on in the race, she took a wrong turn and ran a shorter distance than the other competitors – a mistake that cost her the title, which was awarded to the Guam High School Panthers' Naomi Spuler. Spuler, a 15-year-old freshman, had won the race in 22 minutes, 30.0 seconds. Elizabeth Higley, from St. John's School, in 22:52.7, placed second. Brianni Soto, the second Panther to cross the finish line in 23:22.0, finished third.
"I'm disappointed. Yeah, I think anyone would be," said Barcinas, her eyes filled with tears that had begun streaming down her disillusioned face. "I would say I ran the perfect race, besides taking the wrong turn, I put my all. I tried my best. I'm proud. I'm very proud of how I competed."
With one more year to try for the title, the junior is already looking ahead to next year.
"I still have a year left, so I can show them," she said. "I can work hard for it next year."
George Washington's cross-country coach Christian Ruder explained that the course was clearly marked, and it was an honest mistake.
"It was marked perfectly fine. We had ample time to cover it. But in the heat of the moment, when you're getting chased down and all your brain is thinking is, 'Oh, I've got to finish this race, I've got to get to the finish line,' mistakes can happen. And that's just what happened today," he said.
With Barcinas disqualified, first place was awarded to Spuler.
"I'm feeling really, really just mind-blown," Spuler said. "But I also kind of feel bad, because I feel bad for the girl that was in front of me."
Spuler explained that Guam High has two cross-country courses, the one they used during the regular season and a different one for all-island, which is approximately 300 meters longer than the regular-season course. She said that Barcinas, on the first lap, ran the correct course but, on the second lap, ran the wrong course.
"I tried to tell her to come back. But maybe she didn't hear me. She just kept running. I don't know what happened," Spuler said.
"I wish I could have run a fair race with her and really see who won," she said.
Despite the controversy, Spuler is not only the 2024 individual champion but helped the talented Panthers to a girls team championship. With 26 points, the Panthers earned the top spot on the podium. St. John's School, with 41 points, placed second. John F. Kennedy High School, with 58 points, finished third.
The following Panthers led Guam High to the team championship: Spuler (1st/22:30.0), Soto (3rd/23:22.0), Taliana Longoria (4th/23:25.6), Araceli Arriaga (5th/23:26.7), Carly Devore (13th/24:26.0), Ariyanna Cantu (18th/25:04.6) and Reese Scharfenstine (21st/25:57.9).
"I'm really proud of myself, and I'm really happy that I got to run at this school, with the team," Spuler said. "Really big moment in my life."
Sakaguchi wins boys title
With a long history of producing boys individual cross-country champions, John F. Kennedy High's Kaito Sakaguchi kept the tradition alive. While competing in the boys all-island individual race, Sakaguchi, in 17:52.2, captured the championship. In second place, Guam High's Eldon Egbert (18:04.09) placed second. Rounding out the top three finishers, St. John's School's Jackson Fulkerson-Smith (18:13.8) delivered a bronze-medal performance.
"I feel the accomplishment. I feel like I have done it," Sakaguchi said.
For about half the race, Sakaguchi trailed. But on the second lap, he seized the opportunity and made his move.
"I just had to wait until there was a space for me to go in," Sakaguchi said.
Sakaguchi told the Post that four-time boys All-Island champion Hugh Kent, who graduated from JFKHS earlier this year, motivated him to perform at his best.
"He told me that I just needed the confidence. If you get the confidence, you'll get faster. That's what he told me," Sakaguchi said. "I completely saw the light."
"It's great to be No. 1 like him," Sakaguchi said. "I really admire him, look up to him."
Guam High wins boys team event
Loaded with the island's most talented teenage runners, Guam High, with 26 points, won the boys All-Island team competition. The following Panthers led Guam High to the title: Egbert (2nd/18:04.9), Caleb Steele (4th/18:30.1), Wesley Augustine (5th/18:39.0), Tyler Augustine (7th/19:07.9), Charles Swaggart (8th/19:18.4), Brandon Nielson (13th/19:39.3), and Greysen Scharfenstine (15th/19:48.0).
The Islanders, with 54 points, placed second.
The Okkodo High School Bulldogs, with 108 points, finished third.
For Joe Taitano, Guam High School's cross-country head coach, the sweep confirmed that his school's program is the strongest on Guam, especially since the private and public schools now compete in the same league.
"I'm happy – for one thing – that we're able to compete with all the schools. It really validates our program," Taitano said. "I'm real proud of what my team did today. Boys and girls really ran their guts out today, and it showed."
Taitano said that winning the team championships "becomes a lot more meaningful when all the schools compete against one another, as opposed to just competing with four or five schools."
