NMSA announces 2023 Male/Female Student Athlete of the Year nominees
The Northern Marianas Sports Association announced the 2023 Male/Female Student Athlete of the Year nominees, with the winners to be awarded tomorrow, Wednesday, Feb. 21, during the 2023 NMSA Annual Awards Banquet at the Crowne Plaza Resort Saipan.
The Coach of the Year, Administrator of the Year, and CNMI Sports Hall of Fame have no nominees and the winners will be announced at the banquet.
The Male Student Athlete of the Year nominees are Jaden Andrew of weightlifting; Si Woo Lee of tennis; Dean Aldan of athletics; Cody Shimizu of athletics; Theodore Rodgers of athletics; Aiden Gimed of weightlifting; Markus Attao-Toves of soccer; Kean Pajarillaga of swimming; Tyler Andrew of va’a; and Isaiah Aleksenko of swimming.
Jaden Andrew was the Male Student Athlete of the Month for February. He won second place in the Guam National Youth/Jr./Sr Championships. His best snatch was 62kg (136.69lbs), his clean & jerk best was 82 kg(180.79lbs) for a total of 144 kg. (317.47lbs).
Lee was the Male Student Athlete of the Month for March. He bagged both the boys U14 and U16 singles championship in the Bridge Capital Tennis Classic held in March. Lee also won the boys U16 singles crown in the 2023 NMI Crowne Plaza Junior Tennis Championship. The Mount Carmel School student was part of the NMI Junior National Team that competed in the 2023 North Pacific Regional Championships in Guam and the North Pacific Team that played in the 2023 Pacific Oceania Junior Championships in Fiji. He made it to the semis of the singles play in the POJC and finals in the U14 doubles.
Aldan was the NMSA Male Student Athlete of the Month for April. He topped the 100m and 400m sprints in the boys U9 division of the preliminary races in the PSS All Schools Athletics Championship. Aldan was later named MVP in his age group.
Shimizu was the NMSA Male Student Athlete of the Month for May. He claimed the U18 boys MVP award after earning 46 points. He got gold medals in the 400m and 800m races, silver in the 200M, was fifth in long jump, and helped MHS earn a gold medal in the 4X400 relay. Shimizu was also a member of the NMI U23 Men’s National Football Team that defeated Guam in the Marianas Cup in August and was part of the NMI Men’s National Football Team that competed in the 2023 Solomon Islands Pacific Games and beat American Samoa, 4-0.
Rodgers was the NMSA Male Student Athlete of the Month for June. He represented the NMI in the 2023 Oceania Cup and posted personal best times in the 100m (12.03) and 200m (24.88). He also anchored the NMI in the 4x100m and 4x400m mixed relay teams that set national records in the same event hosted on Saipan. Rodgers later in the year raced in the 100m and 200m events at the 2023 Solomon Islands Pacific Games. He clocked in at 24.15 seconds in the 200m race to reach the semis.
Gimed of weightlifting was the NMSA Male Student Athlete of the Month for July. He won gold in the Philippine National Weightlifting Championship held in Bacolod, Philippines in July. He competed in the 73-kg youth category and won with his snatch of 70 kg (154 lbs) and a clean & jerk of 80 kg (191.4lbs) for a total of 157 kg (355.4 lbs). Earlier in March, Gimed won gold in the Marianas Cup 2023 with a snatch of 66 kg and clean & jerk of 77 kg for a total weight of 143kg. Gimed also participated in the Guam Open National Championships 2023.
Toves was the NMSA Male Student Athlete of the Month for August. He was named the men’s most valuable player in the 2023 Marianas Football Cup held in August. He scored two goals in the NMI’s 3-1 win over Guam in Game 2 of their two-game series to give the host the victory following an aggregate goal score of 3-1. Toves also played for the NMI Men’s National Team in the 2023 Pacific Games in the Solomon Islands and scored the NMI’s lone goal against Tuvalu.
Pajarillaga was named the NMSA Male Student Athlete of the Month for September. He set a CNMI national record in the 200m backstroke during the Junior World Championship in Israel. His time of 2:16.69 beat the nine-year NMI record time (2:18.04) that Kensuke Kimura logged in 2014. Pajarillaga was also part of the NMI relay team that won two bronze medals in the 2023 Pacific Games in Solomon Islands.
Tyler Andrew was the NMSA Male Student Athlete of the Month for October. He represented Saipan Paddling Club in the 2023 Micronesian Cup in Guam and helped SPC sweep the V6 Junior Division races. He also joined SPC’s men’s open team that won the gold medal in the 1,000m and bronze in the 10-mile race. Andrew later represented the NMI at the 2023 Pacific Games in the Solomon Islands.
Aleksenko was the NMSA Male Student Athlete of the Month for November. He was Team NMI’s flag bearer in the opening ceremony for the 2023 Pacific Games in the Solomon Islands. In the swimming competition of the Pacific Games, he won a gold medal in the 200m butterfly event and bronze in the 100m butterfly, 4x200m freestyle relay, and 4x100m individual medley relay. In July, he also represented the NMI to the FINA World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan where he set both age group (17 to 18) and national records in the 50m backstroke (26.94 seconds), 100m backstroke (58.58 seconds), and 100m butterfly (54.46 seconds).
The Female Student Athlete of the Year nominees are Anniegail Manuel of weightlifting; Lina Tsukagoshi of badminton; Andrei Kaithlyn Chavez of athletics; Casey Cruz of athletics; Maria Batallones of swimming; Summer Manahane of soccer; and Jinie Thompson of swimming.
Manuel was the NMSA Female Student Athlete of the Month for March. She won a gold medal in the 71-kg class in the 2023 Marianas Cup held on Saipan in March after recording 65 kg in snatch, 80 kg in clean & jerk, and 145 kg in total weight. Early in February, she also took home a gold medal in the junior female 71 kg category in the Guam Olympic Weightlifting Championships with a lift of 60 kg in the snatch and a lift of 77 kg in the clean & jerk for a total weight of 137 kg.
Tsukagoshi was the NMSA Female Student Athlete of the Month for April. She clinched five titles in the Tan Holdings 50th Anniversary Badminton Tournament held in April. She won the girls U15 singles, U15 doubles (with Danielle Snaer), girls U19 singles and doubles (with Snaer anew), and women’s open doubles (with Janelle Pangilinan). Tsukagoshi also competed in the NMI National Badminton Championships 2023 and topped the U17 mixed doubles (with Marlon Bautista) and women’s open doubles (with Pangilinan). Tsukagoshi was part of the NMI Junior National Team that competed in the Inaugural Pacific Under 15 Invitation Team Challenge in New Zealand and also represented the NMI Junior Tennis Team in the 2023 North Pacific Regional Championships in Guam and in the Pacific Oceania Junior Championships in Fiji.
Chavez was the NMSA Female Student Athlete of the Month for May. She ruled the 400m, 800m, and 1,500m races in the girls U18 division of the PSS McDonald’s All Schools Championship and was named MVP of the competition held in May. Chavez also competed for the NMI in the Oceania Cup in June and broke the NMI’s 24-year record in the 800m after timing in at 2:29.24. In soccer, Chavez played for the NMI in the AFC U20 Asian Cup Qualifiers in Palestine, AFC U17 Women’s Asian Cup Qualifiers in Thailand, Marianas Cup in Saipan, and EAFF Women’s Preliminary Competition in China. She scored in each of four competitions—the only player on the national team to do so. Chavez was also named NMSA Female Student Athlete of the Month for October for earning All Island Top Honors in the 5K race in the Asia Pacific Cross Country Championships held in Guam.
Cruz was the NMSA Female Student Athlete of the Month for June. She competed for the NMI in the Oceania Cup and set personal best times in the 100m (13.28 seconds) and 200m (27.54 seconds) sprints. Cruz also raced in the 2023 Pacific Games in the Solomon Islands and reset her PBs with times of 13.07 seconds (100m) and 27.48 seconds (200m).
Batallones was the NMSA Female Student Athlete of the Month for July. She participated in the World Championships in Japan in July and set the age group record (girls 15 to 16) and NMI national record in the 50m breaststroke (35.96 seconds). Then in November at the 2023 Pacific Games in the Solomon Islands, she reset the records in the same event after submitting 35.09 seconds in the 50m breaststroke. Batallones also raced in the 100m and 200m breaststroke and the 4x50m and 4x100m medley and 4x100m and 4mx200m freestyle relays.
Manahane was the NMSA Female Student Athlete of the Month for August. She was named the Women’s Most Valuable Player for the 2023 Marianas Football Cup held in August. She scored in both games against Guam, lifting the NMI to a convincing 5-1 win in Game 1 and 2-0 victory in Game 2. The 17-year-old Manahane is a student at Saipan Southern High School and in addition to her regular training under the NMI Women’s National Team program, she plays in the youth and women’s leagues under club teams, and even in the men’s league with the women’s national developmental team. Manahane was also among the 14 elite high school runners who participated in the Asia Pacific Cross Country Championships held in Guam in October.
Thompson was the Female Student Athlete of the Month for September. She set a CNMI age group record (17 to 18) in the 50m breaststroke event (40.10 seconds) at the Junior World Championship in Israel in September. Thompson topped the 1,500m event in the Tan Holding 50th Anniversary Swim Meet held in February.
The Male/Female Athlete of the Year nominees will be posted in the next issue of Saipan Tribune.
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