Limes, San Nicolas, Apelo top Marianas Cup

Weights were flying as 32 lifters from CNMI and Guam took to the podium for the Marianas Cup 2023 weightlifting competition on a busy Saturday at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium.

CNMI’s heavy lifters Jason Limes (+109 kg), Angel San Nicolas (102 kg), and Leonardo Apelo Jr. (89 kg) bested the competition in their respective weight classes.

Limes had a best lift in the snatch with 122 kg, a 150 kg clean & jerk, and a total weight lifted of 272 kg. Apelo had a 120-kg snatch, a 160-kg clean & jerk, and an overall 280-kg weight lifted.

Second to Limes is Guam’s Peter San Nicolas with a 110-kg snatch, 140-kg clean & jerk, and 250-kg overall weight lifted and third is the CNMI’s David Barnhouse with an overall weight lifted of 220 kg, a 100-kg snatch, and a 120-kg clean & jerk.

Joseph Pangelinan was second to Apelo with an 83-kg snatch, 102-kg clean & jerk, and 185-kg total weight lifted.

San Nicolas was the lone entry in the 102-kg weight class and lifted 110 kg in snatch, 150 kg in the clean & jerk, with an overall weight lifted of 260 kg.

For 29-year-old Limes, he said “The competition was great despite not feeling 100% ready. I had been so busy with work that I had to miss some training days. But being in that warm up room with the rest of the athletes changed my whole mood and helped me get hyped up.”

Despite not feeling 100%, Limes still managed to break his personal best on the snatch by 1 kg and increase his competition total by 6 kg.

“It was fun competing at home with my family there watching me. The overall vibe in the warm up room was amazing too. It felt like just another heavy training day for us. We stayed focused but we still had fun,” he said.

As for the postponement of the Micronesian Games, he said he had a feeling it would be pushed back, but “I’m not too worried about that. At least now I can just focus on training for the Pacific Games.”

With training, he said it’s “about to get a lot harder from now on. I know I’m gonna have to push myself even more if I wanna do well in these upcoming games.”

In other results in the men’s open division, Guam’s Ezekiel Cabaccang was the lone lifter in the 61-kg weight class for the gold with a 90-kg snatch, 110-kg clean & jerk, and 200-kg overall weight lifted. 

In the 73-kg weight class, Guam’s Viranousith Khamvongsa was the lone competitor with a total weight lifted of 142 kg. His best snatch was 66 kg and his best clean & jerk was 76 kg.

For CNMI weightlifters, the Marianas Cup serves as a qualifier for a spot on the CNMI National Weightlifting Team for the upcoming Micronesian and Pacific Games.

Results of the other men’s weight classes, the women’s division, and the youth/junior divisions will be posted in the next issues of Saipan Tribune.