{"id":403050,"date":"2023-12-11T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-12-11T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=403050"},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-29T14:00:00","slug":"Te-is-23-Boogie-Down-at-Obyan-champ","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/Te-is-23-Boogie-Down-at-Obyan-champ\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Te\u2019 is \u201923 Boogie Down at Obyan champ"},"content":{"rendered":"

After a 10-year hiatus from the ocean, Vincent \u201cTe\u201d Villagomez made an epic return and was one with the waves this time around to claim the title.<\/p>\n

Villagomez outperformed 12 other surfers, including three competitors from Guam, and three women, over the two-day weekend competition at Obyan Beach and was crowned the champion yesterday.<\/p>\n

Despite a 30-minute delay in the finals showdown due to safety concerns, Villagomez swept up the competition and barrel rolled his way to first place after he collected the most points of 1,208 from the competition\u2019s three judges\u2014Linus Mizutani, Shuji Takanobu, and Vince Tudela.<\/p>\n

Second place went to last year\u2019s bronze medalist, Solomon Castro with 1,198 points, while third place was Jacob Yamagishi with 1,024.<\/p>\n

Villagomez said after his win, \u201cI feel great. I\u2019m happy to be here, happy to be in the water, especially with all the support. It\u2019s good to be back.\u201d<\/p>\n

About the competition, Villagomez said, \u201cIt was just like a regular day\u2014just doing what I do and having fun surfing. Just being one with the water feels good.\u201d<\/p>\n

The tricks that landed him the first-place win, according to the 20-plus-year surfing veteran, were the barrel roll tricks he made from the inside. \u201cIt\u2019s difficult to do and it\u2019s very shallow. I got scratches on my fingers,\u201d he said, as he showed his wrinkled and scratched up fingertips.<\/p>\n

In the inaugural event last year, Villagomez competed but did not make it to the finals. Last year was also his first time back in the water after losing his father and brother to ocean-related accidents. The emotional Villagomez dedicated his win to the both of them and said, \u201cThey\u2019re gone, but they\u2019re always with me out there for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Villagomez said he will definitely compete again next year. \u201cI come here often. This is my gym. After work, I come here, I clock in, and I do my thing.\u201d He then thanked his fellow boogie\/body boarders. \u201cThey\u2019ve been around helping me and getting me back here. Shuji gave me my first board to use in last year\u2019s competition. Before that, I was on a 10-year break, but now I\u2019m back.\u201d<\/p>\n

The organizing committee of Boogie Down at Obyan are board members of the Marianas Surf Skate League. The Boogie Down at Obyan organizing committee included director Joe Villacrusis, co-owner of Salty Skin Pacific; tournament director Edward Manibusan, who is the owner of Saipan Surf Company; and media director David Cabrera, owner of the local shop Local Bones; and Salam Younis, co-chairman of the MSSL.<\/p>\n

Manibusan said after the event that it was a great success. \u201cI think we were able to build upon last year’s event. We also brought in surfers from Guam, which is huge for us. Even though we’re different islands, different governments, we do have similar love for the ocean, similar love for the environment, and keeping our environment clean, keeping our beaches clean. We just want to keep that going every year as much as we can, along with the support of companies such as Marpac, TurnKey, and the government agencies that help us out and all our other sponsors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Manibusan on Villagomez\u2019 winning first place said he always sees him out in the water and it shows because he knows the break. \u201cIt takes some experience\u2026the folks who surf out there the most\u2014they know the breaks, they know the currents, they can read the waves, faces of the waves. \u201cTe\u201d is a really hard worker and I know he really wanted it as well from last year. So, it\u2019s really great to see him here. I just heard about his story, but I think he did it for himself and also for his family and loved ones.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the women surfers who competed this year, Manibusan said that it\u2019s a big milestone for them and is looking at creating a separate women\u2019s division eventually.<\/p>\n

Kaya Rasa, Kristina Anderson, and Guam\u2019s May Mendiola graced Obyan\u2019s waters and were the first women to compete in the competition. Mendiola made it to the finals and placed fourth overall.<\/p>\n

Additional thanks were made by Manibusan to the participants, Department of Public Safety, Department of Fire and Emergency Medical Services, Division of Parks and Recreation, Saipan Mayor\u2019s Office, Marianas Visitors Authority, and Coastal Resource Management.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Vincent “Te” Villagomez surfs the lip of a wave during the finals of the 2nd Annual Boogie Down at Obyan last Sunday.<\/p>\n

-LEIGH GASES
<\/figcaption><\/figure>

<\/p>\n

First place Vincent “Te” Villagomez showers in beer during the awards ceremony of the 2nd Annual Boogie Down at Obyan last Sunday.<\/p>\n

-LEIGH GASES
<\/figcaption><\/figure>

<\/p>\n

From left, 2nd Annual Boogie Down at Obyan third place winner Jacob Yamagishi, second place Solomon Castro, and first place Vincent “Te” Villagomez pose for a photo with the Inaugural Boogie Down at Obyan winner Frank Ramon, right, and event organizer Edward Manibusan, back right.<\/p>\n

-LEIGH GASES
<\/figcaption><\/figure> <\/p>\n

Marianas Surf Skate League board members and Boogie Down at Obyan organizers, from left, David Cabrera, Edward Manibusan, Joe Villacrusis, and Salam Younis pose for a photo at Obyan Beach after the 2nd Annual Boogie Down at Obyan last Sunday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After a 10-year hiatus from the ocean, Vincent \u201cTe\u201d Villagomez made an epic return and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-403050","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403050","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=403050"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403050\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=403050"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=403050"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=403050"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}