Palau medalists are tops

There were a lot of great performances in sports the past year, but hands down the biggest story of 2005 was the CNMI’s 29-medal haul in the VII South Pacific Mini Games held in Palau.

Spearheading the cast were swimmers Nina Mosley, Amanda Johnson, Nicole Calvo, Minerva Cabrera, Melissa Coleman, Rezne Wong, Juan and Michael Camacho, and David Palacios, who combined to haul in a whopping 25 medals.

Under the guidance of coach Mike Stewart, the swim team netted 23 medals at the Palau National Swimming Pool in individual and relay competitions and two more in the ocean swims.

Mosley struck gold on opening night in the 100m Freestyle, and again on the final evening in the 50m Freestyle. She also earned silver in the 200m Freestyle, 400m Freestyle, 100m Backstroke, and 50m Butterfly, and won bronze in the 400m Individual Medley and 200m Backstroke.

For his part, Palacios made a strong return to the sport and went on a silver streak to bring home the medal in the 50m Backstroke, 100m Butterfly, 50m Butterfly, and 200m Butterfly.

Johnson, who was the delegation’s flag bearer during the opening ceremony of the Games, grabbed silver in the 200m Butterfly. Coleman struck bronze in the 800m Freestyle; Cabrera did the same in the 100m Breaststroke, and Welch also placed third in the 200m Breaststroke. Juan Camacho pocketed the bronze in the 200m Backstroke.

The swimmers also earned six medals in relays, with Mosley, Johnson, Calvo, and Coleman taking silver in the 800m Freestyle. Mosley, Coleman, Calvo, and Cabrera winning another silver with their performance in the 400m Freestyle, and Welch, Cabrera, Johnson, and Mosley getting silver in the 400m Medley.

Palacios, the Camacho brothers, and Wong finished second in the 400m Relay and third in the 800m Freestyle and 400m Freestyle relays.

Mosley also won silver and Coleman bronze in the 5k Open Water Swim.

Budhi Gurung, Su Yong Dong, Chen Yin Ling, and coach Steve Lim, meanwhile, managed to take home the bronze in the table tennis team competition.

The CNMI ping-pong team swept the Solomon Islands and Marshalls, took two of the nine games against New Caledonia, and won four matches against Fiji to claim glory.

Seeing action in his final SPG, veteran wrestler Joe Ocampo showed just how tough he is as he earned a silver despite wrestling with injured ribs, which he sustained during a practice session before the competition.

Ocampo advanced to the gold medal round by defeating David Salapwa of the Federated States of Micronesia. He did not compete in the gold medal round as his injury worsened.

The triathletes added two more gold medals for the CNMI in the aquathon, with Anneka Sakovich achieving the feat in the women’s competition and all taking top honors in the team competition.

Sakovich completed the first run segment in 23:49, took 38 seconds in transition, completed the swim in 29:53, transitioned another 46 seconds, then capped her morning with a 25:55 run for a gold medal time of 1:21:03.

Coleman, who recovered from her swims, won the bronze after clocking in at 1:26:01.

Times for the top three finishers for each team were combined, and the team with the fastest time took gold. With that, CNMI edged Guam courtesy of the efforts of Sakovich, Stephan Samoyloff, and Dirk Sharer, who combined for a time of 4:07:07. Sharer finished in 1:22:43 while Samoyloff clocked in at 1:23:21.

If it were another year, the CNMI Junior Little League All-Stars would have bagged the No. 1 spot, but they probably won’t feel shabby by taking the runner-up spot behind the medalists of the Mini Games.

Winning the open basketball division of the islands is no mean feat, but winning it thrice in a row is nothing short of spectacular. That’s why the Bud-Light Toyota Tundra of the Budweiser Cup-BANMI Men’s Island-wide Basketball League is third in the list.

Members of the Saipan Swim Club showed a glimpse of things to come when they made waves in the 2005 Arafura Games in Darwin, Australia earlier in the year and deservingly was No. 4 in the Top 10.

Ji Hoon Heo’s exploits in the 14-and-under category of the 2005 Pacific Oceania Junior Championship in Fiji last August round out the Top 5.

Saipan’s hosting of the Micronesian Athletics Championship is sixth as it showcased the island’s readiness in being a venue for major regional sporting events.

Talk about showcasing the Commonwealth, XTERRA Saipan Championships and the 16th Tagaman Triathlon did just that with the third running of the Saipan Sports Fest in April and finds themselves in seventh spot in the list.

The Northern Youth Basketball Association’s domination of their cross-channel rivals on Guam (eighth), the Shell Lightning’s romp to the championship of the Commonwealth Football League (ninth), and Joe “Kamikaze” Camacho’s participation in the 2005 Johnnie Walker Classic Pro/Am in Beijing (10th) complete the top sports performances in 2005.

Junior Leaguers complete drive-for-five

The CNMI Junior Leaguers earned their fifth consecutive trip to the mainland after edging Guam, 12-11, to win the 2005 Asia-Pacific Regional Tournament at Municipal Baseball Field on Tinian in July.

After trailing Guam 11-7 after three and a half innings, the boys from Saipan rallied to score four runs in the bottom of the fourth to tie the game at 11 apiece before Ben Cabrera drove in Juan Iguel in the bottom of the seventh inning of the championship game to send the CNMI to the Taylor, Michigan for the 2005 Junior League World Series.

It took four lead changes and seven innings to decide the game, but the CNMI came out on top by scoring 12 runs off of just six hits in a mistake-ridden affair in which they committed seven errors.

Toyota completes Bud Cup three-peat

For the third straight year, Bud Light-Toyota Tundra reached the top of the mountain as the team defied all odds and showed they still have the hearts of champions by winning the best-of-three championship series of the 2005 Budweiser Cup BANMI Men’s Island-wide Basketball League.

After dropping their first game of the season, Toyota bounced back with the vengeance and finished the regular season with a league-best 12-2 win-loss card to bag the pennant crown.

The team then breezed through the playoffs and defeated the MARPAC-Nissan Titans, 2-1, in the finals. Toyota won Game 1, 88-82, and lost Game 2, 94-104, before sealing the deal with a down-the-wire 95-93 victory.

Toyota’s Abong Camacho, Taj Van Buren, and Elias Rangamar were also recognized with individual awards such as MVP and Mythical Five.

Other members of the team include Elias Saralu, Jake Celes, Wayne Pua, Junior Renguul, Edsel Mendoza, and Romeo Iginoef.

Tankers make waves in Arafura Games

Seven of the Saipan Swim Club’s top swimmers tested the waters of the 2005 Arafura Games in Darwin, Australia as head coach Stewart was joined by tankers Ben Babauta, Michael Camacho, Natasha Good, Cooper Graf, Amanda Johnson, Nina Mosley, Myana Welch, and several parents for the duration of the games.

Throughout the region, the Arafura Games are known as a mini-Olympiad and include elaborate opening and closing ceremonies, in which the local delegates proudly displayed the CNMI flag.

Throughout their time in the Casuarina Swimming Pool, the magnificent seven of the SSC earned a well-deserved rest from their hard work and successful finishes at the 2005 Arafura Games in Darwin, Australia.

According to their coach Michael Stewart, the underrated overachievers accomplished stellar lap times, and he explained that his team was able to build upon their experiences to post better results in upcoming events.

Mosley left the Games with two gold and two bronze medals—and she did so in record-breaking fashion by setting three new Saipan records as well as two CNMI National records.

Heo turns heads in Fiji

Tennis phenom Ji Hoon Heo competed against top netters around the region and placed second in the boys’ 14-and-under category of the 2005 Pacific Oceania Junior Championship in Fiji last August.

The CNMI’s top bet in the category posted the best-ever finish by any player from the Commonwealth in the Championship’s history.

Heo was seeded first in Pool B and finished the five-day tournament with a 2-1 record.

Heo, as well as other netters from the CNMI, were members of the North Pacific team that won six of eight slots for the Championships.

Saipan successfully hosts MAC

Finding its way in the headlines was the hosting of the 2nd Micronesia Athletics Championships last Dec. 14 and 15 as over 100 athletes from Kiribati, Guam, Palau, Marshalls, Nauru, FSM, and the CNMI vied for supremacy in sprint, distance, throwing, and jumping events.

The historic event was the first track meet held at night in the CNMI, and the first regional track meet held in the Commonwealth since the 2nd Micronesian Games in 1990.

CNMI finished with 24 medals, with Tyrone Omar highlighting the charge by breaking the record while taking gold in the 200m sprint.

Official count indicated that 19 records were established during the MAC, with Dexter Dillay joining Omar in stamping his name into the books with the best time in the 110m Hurdles.

The MAC also featured officials from the Oceania Athletics Association, who lauded Northern Marianas Athletics for a well-run event. Among those that visited Saipan was OAA executive director Yvonne Mullins, who disclosed that the OAA is committed to conduct courses for officials prior to the Micronesian Games in June.

The MAC also coincided with the IAAF Kids Athletics headed by IAAF lecturer Deiter Massin, who introduced various events that are targeted to attract and increase interest in the sport among youths.

XTERRA and Tagaman continue to thrill

A crowd of volunteers, fans, and media members gathered around the time clock as Switzerland’s Olivier Marceau crossed the finish line of the 16th Annual Tagaman Triathlon to repeat as the event’s champion just a week after doing the same in the XTERRA Saipan Championship.

Women’s champion Jamie Whitmore took the tape in the Tagaman as well, but she was hampered by a broken derailer in XTERRA that allowed Renata Bucher to win her first Saipan challenge.

Though the duo split the races, Bucher’s lead in the XTERAA allowed her to join Marceau as the PIC Doubles champions. The feat ensured that they will be back in 2006, and Whitmore vowed to return for a shot to regain her title.

NYBA wins two of three on Guam

The newly formed Northern Youth Basketball Association held its inaugural tournament on the week of Thanksgiving, and shortly after its successful hosting, the NYBA selected cagers from its three divisions and formed all-star teams that competed in the Shell Guam 2005 Drug-Free Thanksgiving Youth Basketball Invitational.

The three all-star teams represented well as the 12-and-under cast and the 13-15 age group both brought home championships, while the 16-18 age group went undefeated in the elimination round and finished as first-runner up.

NYBA now turns its focus to sending teams to a tournament in New Zealand later in the year.

Lightning shoots down Eagles for CFL title

The Shell Lightning won the championship of the Commonwealth Football League after defeating the Express Electronics Eagles, 16-8, at the CPA Airport Field.

Both teams reached the final game despite playing in their inaugural seasons, but each had a considerable amount of talent and experience on their rosters.

Both the Lightning and the Eagles were made up of the players that won the 2004 CFL Championship as the Shell Chiefs, but the championship squad split up in the off season almost completely down the lines of offense and defense.

Kamikaze tees off at Johnnie Walker Classic

Local ace Joe “Kamikaze” Camacho not only saw his talent for golf take him to the winners’ circle of the 2004 Tournament of Champions, as it also punched his ticket to the 2005 Johnnie Walker Classic Pro/Am in Beijing.

“It’s an experience that you just can’t describe. You just got to go there and see those guys. Those guys just don’t play golf—it’s their job. For me it pays to work hard. They wouldn’t be there if it wasn’t for hard work. Golf took me a step further than any of the other sports—it’s the only sport that took me to this kind of level and gave me the kind of exposure that I got at the Johnnie Walker,” he said.