3 gold, 2 bronze, nat’l record, and new PBs for athletics

MAJURO, Marshall Islands—The first day of track and field events started off with a bang at the Majuro Track and Field Stadium yesterday with a medal haul of three gold and two bronze, as well as a national record and new personal bests for Team NMI in the 2024 Micronesian Games.

The first gold medal was won by Lyle Andrew in the hammer throw, then Tania Tan in the 5,000m, and Maria Quitugua in the javelin throw. The bronze medals came by way of Lia Rangamar and Daniel Joab, both in the hammer throw.

In the evening events, Tan reclaimed her gold medal throne in the 5,000m with a time of 19:25.54 and left the three other competitors in her dust. A distant second place was Guam’s Keira Paz at 20:47.62, while bronze was Palau’s Ava Planz at 23:11.99.

Tan said after her win, “It was honestly really hard because the weather was super humid and hot like Solomons and Saipan. I also practically ran the whole race alone, so there was no one to pace me or help me reach a certain goal time, but, I said, ‘just stick to your plan, run your own race, and see what happens and it worked out, so here we are.”

She said her goal was to run under 19 minutes because she knew it was hot, but said at the time of her interview without her official results out, “if that’s the case, yay, if it’s not yay either way. I brought home a gold so that’s all that matters.”

With her first ever Micronesian Games, she said, “It’s always nice to represent the flag. Not everyone has the opportunity to compete in the Micro Games, Pacific Games, Pacific Mini Games, Oceania—so just super grateful.”

With her teammates’ strong performance and medal haul so far, she said, “they’ve all been working hard throughout the year, and I think for most of them the Micro Games was their main goal, because we do have a really good chance to do well. I think so far, we’ve done better than all the past Micro Games with the medal count and we’re not even done yet…”

To start the day off, Andrew tallied the first gold medal of the day and broke the national record in his hammer throw event with a best distance of 33.57m. Bronze also went to NMI’s Daniel Joab at 24.53m, while silver was Nauru’s Jonathan Detageouwa at 30.16m.

Andrew, whose main event was the discus, said, “it was okay. I got a little nervous because one guy was throwing pretty strong, but I was lucky enough to throw farther.”

On his gold medal win, he said, “I wasn’t expecting to throw that good and I didn’t know I could throw that well because I never threw in the hammer event seriously before.”

As for Joab, whose main event is the shotput, he said the event was good. “I was not really nervous but we had strong competitors. I’m also the oldest, but I had confidence in myself too.”

With his win, he said he felt pretty good but hopes that the youth will take up the sport of track and field. He said, “The best feeling in sport is actually representing your island, right? The reason I was chosen was because I qualified but if there were younger ones who qualified, I would step out.”

In the javelin event, Maria Quitugua threw her way to the team’s third gold last night with a best distance of 32.33m. Silver was Chuuk’s Kayla Kanemoto at 31.78, and bronze went to Nauru’s Juneen Peniteti with a throw of 30.14m.

Quitugua said of her win, “I’m so proud of myself. I’m so grateful to be given this opportunity to represent my island again. I’m grateful to my parents for their sacrifice, my coach for giving me this opportunity and training me. I couldn’t have done it without them.”

She then dedicated her win to her late brother and track star, Traven Quitugua.

As for the second bronze medal, two-sport athlete Lia Rangamar secured bronze in her debut in the hammer throw with a distance of 21.83m. Gold went to host Marshall Islands’ Mia Pulianas at 33.86mm while silver was Nauru’s Jaya-Shalimar Teboua at 22.40m.

Rangamar, whose main event was the javelin throw, was also placed in the hammer throw with other athletes who are also new to the event in order to have more competitors. With a 10-minute crash course for the hammer throw before the event, she said, “it was very fun. Everyone was very supportive. I think everyone of us was new to that event and it was nice to have it alongside my sister [Kina Rangamar] and my teammates”.

On her bronze medal-placing, she said, “I was actually very surprised but I was happy too. That’s just another medal to our overall count.”

Rangamar also plays basketball for the national team and said as a two-sport athlete, “I think after all these years that I’ve been competing in these Games, I think that certainly helps in how I prepare everyday. It helps that I have experience and the support of teammates and coaches… So yeah, I just try to take it day by day, see how my body feels, and try to produce.”

Casey Cruz made her way to the finals of the 100m sprints with her personal best of 12.60 seconds. She said of her PB, “my 100m race was fantastic! I surprised myself, especially after recovering from an ankle injury. I feel incredibly blessed and ready for the next race!”

For seasoned sprinter Zarinae Sapong, she broke her personal best in the 100m with a time of 12.87 seconds in the finals, after resetting it the first time in the prelims at 12.95 seconds.

Athletics team coach Elias Rangamar said of the medal haul on Day 1, “They really passed my expectations—first day and three gold? I’m proud of all of them”.

Today, NMI track and field athletes will take on Day 2, with more medals and records on their mind.