SOCC takes three of four in Micro Cup

The men and women of the Saipan Outrigger Canoe Club ruled the home waters of the Saipan Lagoon on opening day as some of the region’s top paddling teams pulled water in the 8th Annual Micronesian Cup on Saturday.

The men of the SOCC were without equal in the sprint races as captain Richard Sikkel and his crew out stroked the competition in the 500m and 1,500m finals to sweep opening day for the home team.

Sikkel was joined by Sonny Downer, Joe Przyuski, Brian Eckhart, Gil Birnbrich, and Jason Schoeder in the 1,500m race as they completed all five turns and hit the beach in 8:44.03.

Flawless turns gave the local boys the advantage and allowed them to pull away from Obubu Palau, who placed second at 8:50.04 and third place Hong Kong Islands Paddling Club at 8:50.93.

Animun Tasi Metgot finished fourth with a solid time of 9:11.31, while fellow Guamanian team Animun Tasi Adahi took fifth at 9:18.74, and Haggan I rounded out the finals slate with a time of 9:21.41.

Sikkel’s crew switched out Eckhart with newcomer Ben Wood in the 500m finals, and the plan worked as they were the first to reach the flags at the 2:31.61 mark, little more than a second ahead of Obubu Palau, who finished at 2:23.92.

Animun Tasi Metgot took third place when they hit the finish line at 2:37.26, while HKIPC (2:38.45), Fatu’ul (2:44.51), and Animun Tasi Adahi (2:51.34) rounded out the finals.

The local women did well on the water as well with the SOCC women taking the 500m race by half of a second over Guam’s Poksai in the finals when the home team reached the flags in a photo finish.

Beachside spectators were unable to tell who won until officials announced that Rachel Bandelin, Gayle Berger, Rebecca Newman, Amanda Armstrong, Jessica Jordan, and captain Ann Jordan completed the course first.

After she received the news, Newman asked if her team was able to beat the three-minute mark, but they fell just shy of that with their impressive 3:01.09 finish.

Poksai was a sliver behind at 3:01.56, while HKIPC Grape was third place at 3:02.65, followed by Animun Tasi Metgot (3:04.00), HKIPC (3:09.00), and Guahan Flyers (3:10.58).

The local ladies weren’t able to do the same in the 1,500m race as Poksai took the longer of the sprint races with the only sub-10-minute time on the course, at 9:44.68. Annie Gayle, Natalie Calvo, Johanna Pfannensteil, Kristin Winford, Andy Schuttloffel, and captain Michelle Cerizo of the Outrigger Guam Canoe Club’s Poksai team were clearly the strongest strokers on the water.

The SOCC women took second place in the finals with a time of 10:01.49, while Guam’s Animun Tasi Metgot came in third place at 10:19.81. The Guahan Flyers weren’t far behind as they reached the final flags at 10:22.98 followed by Manely at the 10:24.92 mark and Animun Tasi Adahi at 11:09.84.

While the SOCC ruled the sprints, the crews from Hong Kong reeled in the mixed competitions as HKIPC took both the 500m and the 1,500m races with times of 2:51.82 and 9:14.02, respectively.

OGCC Mixed took second in both categories as well with times of 2:25.96 and 9:18.02, while Imua Guahan did the same in third with respective times of 3:04.37 and 9:47.79.

Yesterday featured the long distance races that took the paddlers from the Saipan World Resort, out to and around Managaha and back. Results will be available in tomorrow’s Saipan Tribune.