Smith conquers Marpi once again

After winning the Inaugural Saipan Marathon and an Olympic-distance triathlon in January, Stuart Smith raced to the finish to take the tape once again during the Northern Mariana Islands Triathlon Federation’s final qualifier for the 2006 Micronesian Games on Saturday in Marpi.

Smith proved his endurance dominance by completing the 1.5-kilometer swim, 40-km bike, and 10-km run course in a stunning time of 2:15:55. The lanky legend first circled the buoys in Pau Pau lagoon twice in just 20:41 before hitting the beach and transitioning to the lengthy bike course. Smith then set fire to the pavement by completing the two-wheeled course in 1:08:50 before trading his helmet for a pair of running shoes for a fleet-a-foot 46:24 10-km run.

Only Dirk Sharer posted a faster run time, but the veteran racer finished second overall with a total combined time of 2:22:04. Despite a second place finish, Sharer was the fastest among the eligible Micro Games qualifiers, and he was followed by a pair of worthy opponents and possible teammates come this summer.
After emerging from the water with the seventh fastest swim time, Butch Sublemente rocketed around the bike course second only to Smith to climb into the third overall spot before churning out the fifth best run time to finish third at 2:31:34.

Relative newcomer Lewie Tenorio completed his rise to the top soon thereafter by returning to the Pau Pau parking lot 2:32:03 after he started. Tenorio (10) and Sublemente (7) clearly have bright futures ahead of them once they master the art of swimming, and the duo is working to improve under the watchful eye of Saipan Swim Club head coach Michael Stewart.

Ronald Villafria (2:40:57), Brad Ruszala (2:48:51), Natasha Good (3:18:53), and rookie racer Bob Schwallbach (3:27:57) rounded out the eight individuals who participated in the Olympic-distance race, while the combo of Hilary Stevens, Elisa Long, and John Douglas finished first among the two teams with a time of 2:39:02 and the tandem of Monica Yamaguchi and husband Izumi completed the course in 2:56:51.

The long distance lovers weren’t the only triathletes working up a sweat on Saipan’s northernmost course as nine multi-sport mavens tackled the 750-meter swim, 20-km bike, and 5-km run of the Sprint distance race.

Joshua Berger lead all comers with a speedy time of 1:21:32, but the attorney’s journey to the finish line was a slim 24 seconds ahead of ageless wonder Fred Camacho (1:21:56). The Saipan Tribune’s Shan Seman continued his rookie debut on the NMITF circuit with a solid third place finish (1:31:14), but what made his race remarkable was that he recovered from eighth place after the swim with the third best times on the bike and the run.

Willie Garon was not far behind as one of the “Four Brothers” had Seman in his sights down Chalan Pale Arnold with a 1:31.53 finish, while Saipan’s returning queen of XTERRA Dawn Hammermeister returned to Pau Pau 1:32:37 after she began her comeback campaign.

Race coordinator Sue Knecht greatly improved from her last outing in which she suffered a parade of flats to finish the race in 1:38:52, and Mike Busby completed the Full Monty in 1:52:23.