Winkfield, Mosley are May’s top athletes

The Northern Marianas Amateur Sports Association acknowledged athletics’ Jeremy Winkfield and swimming’s Nina Mosley by awarding them the athlete of the month plums for May.

Also earning recognition during the sports body’s monthly meeting on Thursday were Nicolas Son of tennis and Jackie Wonenberg of athletics, who took home the student athlete of the month honors.

Winkfield earned the NMASA Male Athlete of the Month award courtesy of his record-breaking performances in the recent McDonald’s All Schools Track and Field Championships.

The Marianas High School graduate was matched by no one in the Commonwealth-wide competition, first striking gold in the high jump, while at the same time stamping his name in the record books following his third attempt that measured at 1.95 meters, setting a new CNMI National Record.

Winkfield then took charge in the discus, and this time, broke the CNMI Junior Record when his first attempt recorded a distance of 30.59 meters for his second gold medal of the day.

He then shattered another CNMI Junior Record and won his third gold courtesy of the throw of 12.16 meters in the shot put, then capped his historic day by breaking another CNMI National record on his first attempt of the javelin after the spear landed some 52.51 meters away.

With his performance, he was a shoo-in for the event’s Most Outstanding Male Athlete Award.

Meanwhile, Mosley was sensational representing the Commonwealth in the recent Arafura Games in Darwin, Australia bringing home two gold medals and two bronze medals, while surpassing three Saipan Swim Club age group records as well as two CNMI National Records.

What made the accomplishments even sweeter was the fact that she competed against elite athletes from around the Pacific region.

Mosley donned her cap and goggles to win the gold in the girls’ 15-16 year-old age group’s 50m butterfly competition by eclipsing her 31.93 time in the preliminary round by almost a full second as she touched the wall of the Casuarina Pool in 30.97.

The standout swimmer also dominated in the 50m freestyle en route to a gold medal performance after clocking in at 28.36 seconds.

She wasn’t through though, and after advancing to the finals of the 50m breaststroke, Mosley kicked to higher gear and captured the bronze medal after maneuvering her way across the pool in 37.32 seconds.

She continued her aquatic efforts in the finals of the 100m freestyle by swimming to a bronze medal finish with a time of 1:02.32.

For his part, Son stole the show in the 24th Annual DFS Micronesian Tennis Championships by capturing two titles.

Son and his father, Michael, joined forces in the round-robin men’s open doubles and caught eyes of many after winning their matches via comeback fashion.

After dropping a nail-biting first set, 6-7, to Jeff Race and Daniel Son, they pulled the right strings in clutch moments to knot the match at a set apiece with a hard earned 7-5 win. The neck and neck battle carried over to the decisive set, but it was Nicolas and the elder Son that mustered just enough juice to edge their opponents, 6-4. Prior to the contest, they defeated Peter Loyola and Rory MacKay in another thriller 4-6, 7-6, 6-3.

Nicolas was also firing away in the boys’ 18-and-under singles play and beat fellow standout Ralph Buenaventura in the finale.

Like in the doubles, Son had to fight out of a hole. He dropped the opening set, 2-6, before responding with a 6-3 win. Buenaventura then retired at the start of the third set.

For her part, the 13-year-old Wonenberg earned a lot of cheers and recognition from many after dominating the sprint events in the McDonald’s All Schools Track and Field Championships, and like Winkfield, claimed the Most Outstanding Female Award of the event with four gold medals.

The Sadog Tasi resident proved to be the fastest sprinter in her 13-and-under age group, taking the popular 100m dash with a time of 14.24 seconds.

She then smoked the competition in the 200m sprint, completing the half-lap event in convincing fashion after crossing the finish line in 29.58 seconds, over a second faster than the next finisher.

Wonenberg then solidified her dominance by blowing away the competition from beginning to end in the 400m and anchoring the HJHS girls team in the 4X100m relay.

Honorable mention also went to Cooper Graf of swimming, tennis’ Mayuko Arriola and Lila Mailman, Noel Sicat and Cindy Taitano of bowling, and Bo Wang and Champ Untalan of athletics.