NMA recognizes top athletes for January

Northern Marianas Athletics recognized the winners of the inaugural Saipan Marathon as its top athletes of the month for January.

In a recent board meeting, NMA selected overall winner Stuart Smith as their male athlete of the month and women’s top finisher Monica Yamaguchi as the women’s athlete of the month.

Also receiving recognition for their efforts were Allen Moses as male youth athlete of the month and Bo Wang as female youth athlete of the month.

Smith was phenomenal in the 26.2-mile challenge as he stamped his name into the record books by beating 40 other runners and finishing with a time of 3:09:28.

The race began at about 3:30am last Jan. 21 and Smith took off like a horse as he was on pace to break the three-hour mark after reaching the first turn-around in Marpi in less than 45 minutes.

Smith was so dominant that the next runner to cross the finish line came in almost a half an hour later.

For her part, Yamaguchi won the women’s competition as she crossed the finished line in 4:10:19.

“It’s unbelievable,” Yamaguchi said shortly after crossing the finish line of her first marathon run.

Yamaguchi and Smith began their journey at the American Memorial Park. They headed to the first turnaround located a little past the Kan Pacific Swimming Pool in Marpi before turning back and backtracking to the AMP. The runners took a left turn at the intersection by the fire station in Garapan and abused their shoes along Beach Road to the second turnaround at the Pacific Islands Club in San Antonio. From there, they backtracked to the AMP for the finish.

Moses and Wang also put their endurace to the test in the 10K Run that morning.

Moses finished fourth overall in a field of 105 runners and placed first in the boys’ youth division with a time of 45:55 in his first 10K run. He was able to feed on energy provided through cheers by his basketball team—Garapan Rollers—which assisted at a couple of water stops.

Wang was also impressive as she placed in the overall rankings after being the third female to cross the finish line. The Marianas High School student challenged the course well and conquered with a time of 51:51. Her time was also tops compared to participants under the age of 18 years.

The four were among the nominees for the Northern Marianas Amateur Sports Association athletes of the month awards, with the winners selected last night during NMASA’s monthly meeting at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium conference room.