Lucky 9 vie for male student plum

Members of the Northern Marianas Amateur Sports Association will be facing a tough task selecting the 2008 Male Student Athlete of the Year next month.

There are nine nominees—the most for the season, as the Male and Female Athletes of the Year have seven and eight, respectively, and the Female Student of the Year has eight nominees.

All nine made impressive accomplishments, which give them the equal rights to gain the top individual award for a student-athlete in the CNMI.

First on the list is junior tennis player and MHS’ Ji Hoon Heo, who was named Student Athlete of the Month for January after playing for the ITF Pacific Oceania Touring Team in Australia.

Heo, the lone CNMI junior player to gain Junior ITF ranking points, defeated seeded foes Down Under becoming the highest placed player on his team after reaching the semifinals of a tournament in Wodonga.

Another junior tennis player is on the list with Saipan International School’s Rafael Jones taking the February plum after winning the 13-and-under division title of the NMITA Coconut Classic Championships.

Swimming’s Kai Staal claimed the March honors, as he secured the High Point award in the SSC International Swim Meet. Staal also prevailed in the 2,500m swim in the 30th Annual SSC Oceania Swim and after a few weeks participated in the relay race in XTERRA Saipan Championships and Tagaman Triathlon.

The SIS student was the third male out of the water and fifth overall besting pro athletes in XTERRA.

Staal won two more monthly honors, getting NMASA members’ votes in November and December.

In November, he led SIS to a successful title defense in the high school division of the All Schools Swim Meet on top of making two age group (13 to 14-years old) records.

The following month, Staal left an impressive mark in Guam, setting three age group records besides winning two gold medals, four silver, and a bronze.

Christian Miller of Whispering Palms is the third tennis player to be nominated for the 2008 Male Student Athlete of the Year Award after earning the Male Student Athlete of the Month plum in April. Miller was cited for his singles and doubles wins in the CNMI Junior Championships.

Staal’s teammate in Tsunami Saipan, Saipan Community School’s Kensuke Kimura, is also on the list after taking the May honors.

Kensuke shattered the CNMI age group record (11 to 12) in the 200m breaststroke when he competed in the Guam Championships, where he also won one gold medal, two silver, and three bronze.

Athletics’ Trevor Ogumoro of Kagman High School won a bronze in high jump and a silver in octathlon during the 2008 Oceania Championships, which Saipan hosted in June.

Having contributions in the CNMI medal haul in the regional meet allowed Ogumoro to win the June plum and earned a nomination for the season-ending award.

Soccer’s Caleb Arriola is also a nominee after winning the July title. Arriola of SIS was the goalie for the CNMI U14 National Team that stood its ground against the veteran players of Chinese-Taipei, Guam, Hong Kong, North Korea, and Macao during the EAFF U14 Football Festival in Guam.

Count youth bowler and Southern High School Raphael Zapanta in the selection after securing the August award. Of Saipan Bowling Association’s 12 monthly roll-offs, Zapanta won eight of them.

The ninth nominee is MHS and basketball’s Jericho Cruz, who played for the CNMI Junior National Team in the 2008 Oceania Youth Tournament in Guam. He was the top scorer of the tournament and helped the CNMI win against Papua New Guinea and Palau.

The winner of the 2008 Male Student Athlete of the Year will be decided on Feb. 5 during NMASA’s monthly meeting.