Athletes treated to sports festivities

Sports festivities made the CNMI athletes’ weekend busy.

First on the list was the NMA All Schools Cross Country Championships, which gathered runners from various elementary, junior high school, and high schools on Saipan.

The championship culminated the series of cross country races that the Northern Marianas Athletics started late October.

The cross country festivities concluded with the recognition of individual and team winners in the 8-and-under, 10-and-under, 12-and-under, 14-and-under, and 18-and-under age groups.

Angelo Jones of Saipan International School, Gabrielle Race of Whispering Palms, and Marianas High School’s Jacque Wonenberg were among those honored in the championships having won in the same event several times.

The Northern Mariana Islands Football Association hosted the second NMIFA Youth Festival of Football of the year and drew more participants than the first one held in January.

The football festival were participated in by around 300 youth strikers from four football clubs on Saipan, namely the MP United, Matansa FC, Independent FC, and Paire FC.

Hopwood Junior High School was turned into a big playground when the island’s young strikers played from 8am to 2pm in four fields simultaneously.

Adding joy to the celebration was NMIFA’s donation of 15 pairs of shin guards and six pairs of goalkeeper gloves to each of the four youth clubs.

The 2008 PILCOWA-San Miguel Beer Basketball League also had a festivity when it held its first All-Star Game.

The All-Star Game featured selected players from the seven teams participating in the inaugural league and they were divided into two teams, namely the Dark and Light All-Stars.

Both teams put on a show before the Dark All-Stars pulled off a thrilling 107-105 victory.

Bonbon Cadagat of MIGS was named the All-Star Game’s MVP.

Festivities for the Thanksgiving Day are starting this week, but PIC celebrated early with its 15th Annual PIC Thanksgiving Softball Tournament at the Miguel “Tan Ge” Basa Pangelinan Ballfield on Nov. 16.

Natibu, which placed only second to No Ka Oi last year, took the title that eluded the team in the 14th season of the annual tournament whipping Man Amigos, 17-7, in Game 2 of the championship showdown.

Natibu entered the finals with a twice-to-beat advantage after sweeping its preliminary matches. But it could not win the tournament earlier when Man Amigos posted a 10-7 triumph in Game 1.

Other regular tournaments on Saipan went ahead as scheduled with several teams keeping their clean record.

Daniel remained unbeaten in four games in the 2008 CIM-FCC Inter-Color Basketball League-3rd Genesis Cup, while four squads are still unscathed in the Budweiser 2008 Inter-Government/Business Softball League.

Saipan Southern High School is also undefeated in the MISO boys’ caging.

The CNMI had visitors last week with organizers of the 2011 Pacific Games in New Caledonia meeting local sports leaders and inviting the Commonwealth to compete in the quadrennial event.

Members of the local sports governing body, led by Northern Marianas Amateur Sports Association president Michael A. White, attended the meeting that saw New Caledonia’s Pacific Games organizing committee-dubbed NC2011 presenting their plans for 2011.

Pacific Games Council secretary general David Boyd said his three-person group is in a yearlong, island-hopping mission to invite member nations of the council to take part in the 2011 Games.

In other regional meet updates, CNMI will be well represented in the 2010 Micronesian Games after several sports federations signified their plans of sending teams to the quadrennial event in Palau.

10-and-under eventual champion Gabrielle Race of Whispering Palms nears the finish line in the 1,500m race during the NMA All Schools Cross Country Championships at the Airport Field.