Team Pepsi readies for Mini Games

As the countdown to the 2005 South Pacific Mini Games in Palau continues, the most recent of the CNMI teams have announced its roster, as Team Pepsi has been unveiled as the Northern Mariana Islands Triathlon team.

Natasha Good, Jack Kabiriel, Dirk Sharer, Melissa Coleman, Stephan Samoyloff, and Anneka Sakovich will push their bodies to the limits for the Commonwealth later this summer, but will benefit from a pair of major events this week.

The local multi-sport enthusiasts are taking advantage of the local competitive triathlon scene by competing in both the XTERRA Saipan Championship and next weekend’s 16th Annual Tagaman Triathlon on Saturday, April 16.

Samoyloff and Sharer have been at the forefront of the local triathlon movement, and plan to utilize the 2nd Annual Saipan Sports Fest to assess their current level of fitness, but for those in their first year of competitive triathlon, it will be the first taste of international competition.

“For the team as a whole, it marks the beginning of the formal training season in preparation for the Palau South Pacific Games,” said Samoyloff.

Samoyloff recently finished 12th overall in the fourth running of the Saipan XTERRA Championship with a time of 3:14:42, while Sharer was the 44th in a field of 90 with a full course time of 4:04:08.

Good competed in the Sport Course race, and the 16-year-old swimmer finished 20th overall with a time of 3:49:57.

Kabiriel competed as a part of a team in the relay, and finished the bike course in a time of 2:21:54, but he is planning to compete in the entire Tagaman race. Melissa Coleman also competed as a part of a team, and finished the bike course in 1:57:50.

“We have three veterans and three rookies, so Anneka, Dirk and I bring experience, the others bring a hope for future development. The two girls are swimmers, so they will even potentially help pace us on the swim during the event, as well as helping us all get faster. Jack is a sprinter and runner and has done some coaching, so we hope to use him to teach us some running basics,” said Samyoloff.

In the 2003 Suva SPG, the trio of Samoyloff, Sharer, and Sakovich won the bronze in the triathlon event behind powerhouses New Caledonia and Tahiti.

With just two and a half months before the start of the Mini Games, and four days until the Tagaman, the athletes have found support from the local community.

According to Samoyloff, Team Pepsi is sponsored by Pacific Trading Co., who will also provide the triathletes their supply of Gatorade during their training. The swimmers, cyclists, and runners will also receive assistance from the United Micronesia Development Association (UMDA), and the NMITF.