NMI closes strong with two gold medals

KOROR, Palau—The CNMI hauled in another three medals just as action in the 2005 Palau South Pacific Mini Games was about to end, with triathletes taking center stage once more by improving their bronze-medal finish in the Suva Games two years ago.

Despite the event changing from a triathlon to an aquathon, due to officials deleting the bike portion of the race and substituting it with another run leg, Anneka Sakovich still put on a phenomenal show and took the challenge head on before completing her campaign with a gold medal charge, completing the course in a sterling 1:21:03, beating out six other competitors in the field.

Sakovich, who teamed up with Stephan Samoyloff and Dirk Sharer for bronze in the Fiji SPG in 2003, led from start to finish, completing the first run leg in 23:49. After a transition that took her just 38 seconds, Sakovich worked her magic in the water and 29:53 later, was back to the transition stage preparing for the final run.

She then secured the gold by completing the task in 25:55.

“I think we all did great,” Sakovich said shortly after receiving her medal. “I think we were all a little thrown off because there was not going to be any bike [race] because we’ve all been training hard and practicing on the bike. I’m not a particularly strong runner, so knowing that I had to do a run, swim, then run again, I was a little disappointed but in the end, I felt good.

“The first run felt a little hard, but once I got into the water, I felt good and when I came out for the second run, I felt better,” she added.

The other gold came courtesy of CNMI’s push in the team competition. Sakovich’s time was combined with Samoyloff and Sharer and was good enough to beat out Guam. Sharer placed seventh in the men’s competition, finishing the race in 1:22:43, while Samoyloff clocked in at 1:23:21 for eighth best in the men’s field. The three combined for 4:07:07, while Guam took silver in 4:19:13.

“We feel great,” Samoyloff said. “This is way above our expectations. We came in well prepared and it’s lucky because if you really look at it, Dirk and I came out really flat, we didn’t race as strong as we needed to but we had enough base training and were able to hold enough.”

Meanwhile, multi-sport athlete Melissa Coleman, who had earlier bagged several medals for the NMI as a swimmer, continued to find success in the Games as she took home the bronze with a time of 1:26:21. The Saipan Southern High School student blasted her way through the opening run in 25:41, then conquered the swim in 30:24, and capped her memorable Games by running for 28:36.

Samoyloff added that the overall performance surpassed the team’s expectations.

“I’ve never seen Anneka go this fast. She’s really a champion and really earned her gold medal today. Our expectation was for the team to take silver and maybe get lucky for the gold, so to come home with the gold is one step better than what we thought we could do,” he said. “I was hoping for one individual medal but to get two, it’s fantastic.”

Also posting solid outings were newcomers Ketson “Jack” Kabiriel and Natasha Good, who according to Samoyloff, are the local triathletes to watch in the near future.

Kabiriel was the next finisher after Samoyloff, also placing in the top 10 with a time of 1:23:29, while Good finished in 1:37:13.

“They just shone…they were so good and were tentative and nervous about it, but they learned so much about it over the year, and they’ve responded and performed great and things looks pretty good for the CNMI in the next few years I think they’re going to take over the team,” he said of Kabiriel, Good, and Coleman.

Meanwhile, the CNMI baseball team bowed out of the competition in style, taking eventual gold-medal winner Guam to the limit in front of a jam-packed crowd Tuesday night.

The CNMI exploded for four runs twice and led 9-6 with two outs before Guam rallied for three runs to force extra innings, eventually taking the win with a run in the eighth inning, 10-9.

CNMI got off on the right foot, scoring a run in the top of the first inning as lead off batter Dwight Quitano reached on an error and later scored to give the team a 1-0 lead.

With pride on the line, the CNMI sluggers went right back to work in the top of the second and erupted for four more runs for a comfortable 5-0 lead. Clifton Silil led off with a double and scored the first run of the inning on an error, birthday boy Tyrone Omar reached base on a bunt, stole second, and crossed home plate, Jerome Delos Santos reached on another Guam miscue, and Tony Celis singled before Manny Sablan drove both home on a two-run double.

Guam finally got on the scoreboard after being shut down by CNMI’s Byron Kaipat in the first two innings, scoring three runs in the bottom of the third to cut their deficit to just two runs.

Guam knotted the score at 5-5 on two more runs in the bottom of the fourth inning and went ahead on another run in the sixth, stunning the CNMI crowd.

Team CNMI, however, was not ready to surrender and unleashed its fury again in the top of the seventh inning, scoring four runs while bringing their crowd back to life.

With countless fans cheering them on, Team CNMI began to work their best, with Jester Garcia smacking a hard line drive to left field for a lead off double. Joey Dela Cruz then reached on an error and was replaced by speedster Luis Iguel, who scored with Garcia on a two-run single by Ben Jones. A single by Delos Santos brought Jones home, and another defensive error cost Guam a run as Delos Santos scored later in the inning.

Team CNMI was two outs away from handing Guam their only defeat of the tournament, but that was not the case as the neighboring island got a huge triple by Brian Balajadia, who later cut the deficit after crossing home plate on a single by Dominic Cruz. Jim Reyes singled, Kin Fernandez drew a walk, Glen Fernandez singled, and by the time the rally was over, Guam had scored three runs to force extra innings, 9-9.

After holding CNMI in the top of the eighth, Guam came back, getting a hit from Alan Sarmiento, who headed to second on a bunt, reached third on a fielders choice, and scored the winning run on a sacrifice fly by Balajadia.

Although disappointed with the loss, Team CNMI members kept their heads up after giving the crowd a show to remember.

Delos Santos led the NMI, going 3-for-5 with two runs, while Celis and Garcia each had two hits and a run.

Four pitchers took the mound for NMI, with Frank Hocog, Craig Sanchez, and Kaleb Dulei joining Kaipat.

Omar, who turned 18 years of age, soon took center stage as members of the team, as well as officials and supporters, sang a birthday song.

In other news, the CNMI men’s table tennis advanced to the quarterfinals of the men’s doubles competition before bowing out to Fiji’s Peter Antonio and Richel Sen.

Chen Lin Ying and Su Yong Dong put up a respectable fight, stunning the Fijians and all in attendance by taking the first set, 11-6.

Antonio and Sen, however, settled down and came back stronger to take the next set with ease, 11-4. The Fijian one-two punch then stopped the NMI again in the third set, 11-5, and finally ended Chen and Su’s run with an 11-8 clincher.

In other news, the CNMI paddlers returned to home soil after putting up a respectable charge in outrigger canoeing, while organizers began prepping for the closing ceremony, which will be held today at 5pm at the Palau National Track and Field oval.