CNMI relay team breaks record

The quartet of Zarinae Sapong, Therize Millare, Jerlyn Castillo, and Eleina Santos shattered the Micronesian Games record in the 4x400m relay.

The CNMI runners clocked in at 4:24.43 in the 4x400m relay event in the 9th Micronesian Games in Yap last Thursday to surpass the mark (4:24.94) made by fellow Commonwealth sprinters Yvonne and Yvette Bennett, Jacque Wonenberg, and Lia Rangamar in the 2010 edition of the quadrennial competition held in Palau. The record-breaking run handed the CNMI relay team a bronze medal in the event. Guam took and gold, while Pohnpei earned the silver after timing in at 4:19.18 and 4:24.43, respectively. Guam’s mark posted by Shania Bulala, Madison Packbier, Richelle Tugade, and Celine Amparo, is now the new Micro Games record.

Guam also set the new record in the 4x100m relay, as the same quartet timed in at 50.49 seconds en route to getting the gold medal in the event. The previous record was 52.23 seconds (Oceania Athletics Association did not list down the names of the old record holders).

Besides the relay, records in eight individual events were also broken, including two that Yvonne established during the 2010 Micronesian Games.

Guam’s Regine Kate Tugade timed in at 12.47 seconds in the qualifying heat and 12.38 seconds in the finals to beat the 12.68 seconds Yvotte posted on Aug. 4, 2010. Tugade then did the same in the 400m run with her 1:01.05 in the finals eclipsing the 1:01.30 Yvonne recorded on Aug. 6, 2010.

Other new records set were in men’s and women’s 15,000m, and men’s 200m run, men’s high jump, and women’s discus throw and shot put.

CNMI vs Pohnpei for baseball gold
The stage has been set for the CNMI and Pohnpei finals showdown.

Pohnpei advanced to the gold medal game after prevailing against Kosrae in a knockout match yesterday, 9-0. The CNMI-Pohnpei finals duel will be played today, starting at 3pm (same time on Saipan).

The Commonwealth bets are favored in the gold medal match, as they have yet to lose in the tournament, winning all four games in the elimination and beating Kosrae in the semis, 13-1. However, the Patrick Tenorio-managed squad must not take its opponents lightly, as it defeated Pohnpei by only two points in the preliminary round, 7-5.

Weightlifting competitors named
Entries in the weightlifting competition have been grouped and schedule was released yesterday.

In the 85-kg division, Joe Tudela will be up against the Marshall Islands’ Kabuati Silas Bob and Pohnpei’s Andran Dolon. In the 94-kg class, Rodrigo Ada will face Pohnpei’s Dorian Peter and the Marshall Islands’ Sione Aho. In the 105kg, Pacific Mini Games bronze medalist Angel San Nicolas will challenge Yap’s Alvin Ruuemau, the Marshall Islands’ Ronald Jinuna, and Pohnpei’s Burton Charley.

In the women’s division, Antonette Labause is entered in the 90-kg class, while Bonnie Cruz will compete in the 90+kg.

Meanwhile, with the medal-rich athletics event done last week and weightlifting moving the competition proper to today (instead of yesterday), not much has changed in the medal standings.

Guam, after winning the gold medal in the women’s basketball following its 62-38 victory over the Marshall Islands, stays on top with a 26-12-12 gold-silver-bronze tally. Palau got the bronze after edging Pohnpei, 59-57.

In the men’s basketball finals, Guam was playing the Marshall Islands, too, as of press time, while Pohnpei prevailed in the bronze medal match against Palau, 72-66.

Palau with its bronze in women’s basketball now has a 25-9-12 tally for second place, while Pohnpei is at distant third with its 10-21-14 haul.