CNMI swimming records fall

CNMI swimming records fell last week when Rezne Wong competed in the 2011 Summer Universiade in Shenzhen, China.

Wong set new records in the 50m butterfly and 50m and 100m breaststroke events. He timed in at 26.66 seconds in the 50m butterfly, surpassing the 27.87 seconds Kai Staal logged on April 16, 2011. In the 50m breaststroke, Wong submitted 31.31 seconds, breaking the previous CNMI mark he recorded on July 28, 2009, during the 13th FINA World Championships in Rome, Italy. Then in the 100m breaststroke, he clocked in at 1:07.66 seconds, shattering the 1:08.79 he logged July 26, 2009, also during the World Championships in Italy.

Wong and Mancao represented the CNMI to the Shenzhen competition with the latter failing to complete his 156.8-kilometer road race due to an early crash.

Other notable events last week were Butch Journey to XTERRA World Championship Fundraiser II, the CNMI junior tennis players’ stint in the 2011 Oceania Plate and the Oceania Closed in Fiji, and the opening of the 2011 SMLBA-Youth Summer/Winter Baseball League and the UFO Masters and Youth Docomo Pacific Cup.

Ninety-four individuals joined the Butch Fundraiser II which featured bike and run races at Paupau Beach.

In Lautoka, Fiji, Mikayla Lopez, Theecel Minor, Jake Lee, Moris Villanueva, Tammy Ackerman, and Negahr Rastguiy joined the Oceania Plate, while Thea Minor, Christian Miller, and Rafael Jones entered the Oceania Closed.

At the Francisco “Tan Ko” Palacios Ballfield, the U18 baseball league opened with the Ol’Aces and Fielders 1 and 2 winning their respective games.

At the Civic Center Basketball Court, MDX routed Samahang Laguna in the youth division of the UFO caging, while Cabalen downed VisMinda in the masters category at the TSL Sports Complex.

Still in basketball, the UFO caging continued with its open division matches with MAFEA-Ali’i Konflikt recording the biggest win of the week after beating the then undefeated Bayani/Mobil, 79-76.

At the Garapan Basketball Court, the Division of Youth Services held a FIBA 3-on-3 competition with Shorties, F-Rollers, and TUGZ ruling their respective division.

At the Gualo Rai Basketball Court, the Blue Haus caging completed its regular season games and will start the playoff round this week.

Back at the TSL Sports Complex, the Saipan Soccer School continued with its games in the men’s and women’s futsal league.