Better late than never for June awardees

Four athletes from the 2008 Oceania Grand Prix and Oceania Championships got the nod for Athlete of the Month awards for June from the Northern Marianas Amateur Sports Association.

Veteran Ketson “Jack” Kabriel won the Male Athlete of the Month award after taking part in a total of 13 events in the 2008 Oceania Grand Prix and Oceania Championships held from June 21 to 28 at the Oleai Track and Field.

Along the way, Kabiriel bagged a silver in the 3,000m steeplechase with a time of 12:20.07, which broke the CNMI national record.

He also qualified in the finals of the 100m hurdles (20.18) and the 400m hurdles (61.74), and took part in the 400m sprint (56.8), and anchored his mixed medley relay team to a runner-up finish.

Kabiriel also competed in the eight-event octathlon and came away with a sixth-best finish.

Yvonne Bennett, meanwhile, took home the Female Athlete of the Month for June after smashing three CNMI national records during the Oceania Grand Prix and Oceania Championships.

The 17-year-old may not have won a medal in the competition but her 26.82 in the 200m, 61.34 in the 400m, and 12.99 in the 100m broke previous Commonwealth bests in the sprint events.

In addition, the Kagman High School student also finished fifth in the 400m in the Oceania Championships with a time of 61.83.

“Though she did not win any medal, she was clearly the most dominant CNMI athlete during the Grand Prix and Oceania Championships. The sprints is the most talent-filled event and she was able to keep up with the top sprinters in the region, being the first female ever in the CNMI to make the finals in the 100m, 200m, and 400m smashing all three records in the process,” the nomination from Northern Marianas Athletics read.

The federation added that officials from Australia, New Zealand, and various Pacific Islands are all in admiration with Bennett’s accomplishments and her potential.

Male Student Athlete for June was Trevor Ogumoro after the Kagman High School student won a silver and a bronze in the Oceania Championships.

Ogumoro finished second in the under-18 octathlon with 3,256 points and third in the high jump with a leap of 1.60m. He also wound up sixth best in the long jump (5.61m) and the triple jump (10.82m).

Last but certainly not the least, the CNMI’s most be-medaled athlete in the Oceania Grand Prix and Oceania Championships was Jacque Wonenberg after the 16-year-old raked in one gold, one silver, and two bronze medals.

For her efforts, she bagged Female Student Athlete of the Month.

Wonenbrg came in first in the pentathlon with 3,455 points, got a silver while being part of the CNMI 4x100m relay team, and earned bronzes in the long jump (4.79m) and triple jump (9.59m). Incidentally, both jumps were new CNMI national records.

She also wound up fourth in the 100m hurdles. She established a new CNMI national record in the prelims when she tackled the event in 16.40.

“The 16-year-old may have lost the title as Queen of Sprints in the CNMI, but she is clearly the best all-around female athlete in Micronesia. Jacque won our first and only gold medal in the history of Oceania athletics [in pentathlon], amassing 3,455 points to edge [out] her competitor from Tonga,” part of NMA’s nomination read.

Kabiriel, Bennett, Wonenberg, and Ogumoro got the plum during a meeting held Thursday night at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium. Representatives of sports associations making up NMASA actually voted to accept NMA’s nominations despite the selections coming in a month late.

NMASA, according to the sports governing body’s president Michael White, didn’t have a meeting last July because it failed to reach a quorum.