Swimmers, weightlifter make July honor roll

Swimmers Maria Batallones, Shoko Litulumar, Isaiah Aleksenko, and Jakey Deleon Guerrero and weightlifter Aiden Gimed made it to the Northern Marianas Sports Association’s July honor roll, as they were recognized for their notable feats in their respective competitions.

Batallones was named NMSA/Crowne Plaza Female Student Athlete of the Month after her record-breaking swim at the 2023 World Aquatics World Championships held in Fukuoka, Japan from July 14 to 30. The 15-year-old raced in the 50m breaststroke event and clocked in at 35.96 seconds, which is now the new 15-16 age group and NMI national records, breaking the 36.81 seconds Nina Mosley established in June 2006.

Batallones then formed the NMI quartet with Aleksenko, Deleon Guerrero, and Litulumar and together the team submitted 4:05.62 in the 4x100m freestyle relay to surpass the 4:12.95 marked that the former, Taiyu Akimaru, Jinie Thompson, and Juhn Tenorio posted in the world championships held in Budapest, Hungary last year. Batallones and company were named Team of the Month for July for their record-breaking swim in Fukuoka.

Meanwhile, Gimed won the NMSA/Crowne Plaza Male Student Athlete of the Month for claiming a gold medal in the Philippine National Weightlifting Championship held in Bacolod City, Philippines last July 15 and 16.

Gimed joined the 73kg weight class of the youth division contest and recorded a field-best of 70kg in snatch and 87kg in clean & jerk for a total of 157kg. Only Gimed and the NMI swimmers made it to the July honor list, as there were no nominees for the Male and Female Athlete of the Month awards for July.

The 13-year-old student is the sixth weightlifter to break into the NMSA monthly honor roll. Gimed’s fellow student-athlete Jaden Andrew was the February top student-athlete, while Annie Gail Manuel took the female-student athlete award in March. In the adults category, Leonardo Apelo (February), Antonette Labausa (March), and Leowell Cristobal (June) are the other weightlifters listed on the honor roll.

Completing the select group are tennis’ Si Woo Lee (March) and athletics’ Dean Aldan (April), Cody Shimizu (May), and Theodore Rodgers (June) for the male student; badminton’s Lina Tsukagoshi (April) and athletics’ Kaithlyn Chavez (May) and Casey Cruz (June) for the female student; tennis’ Colin Ramsey (March); cycling’s Joel Buco (April), and basketball’s Douglas Schmidt (May) for the male athlete; and athletics’ Tania Tan (February) and Erin Frink (June) and badminton’s Janelle Pangilinan (April) for the female athlete.

In the team category, joining the CNMI Naitonal Swimming Team on the monthly honor roll are Marianas High School Girls Outrigger Team (February), Saipan International School Girls Elementary School Track Team (April), and the Marianas Outrigger Club Women’s Team (June).

Nominations for the top athletes and team for August are now open. All monthly awardees qualify for the coveted Male and Female Student Athlete of the Year, Male and Female Athlete of the Year, and Team of the Year awards. (PR)