Four named February top athletes

Two tennis players, a cagebelle, and a swimmer were voted top athletes for February during the Northern Marianas Amateur Sports Association monthly meeting last Thursday at the conference room of the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium.

Lydia Tan was named Female Athlete of the Month for her title win in the mixed doubles 4.0 division of the 2009 Shirley’s Open Tennis Tournament in Guam last month. Tan teamed up with Peter Loyola and they won over Guam’s Sam and Katie Lai in the finals, 7-5, 6-4.

The two Saipan netters had a straight sets victory over the tandem of Ian Batherson and Amber Gadsden, 6-3, 6-4, in the first round. In the second round, Tan and Loyola cruised to a similar 6-3, 6-4 triumph against Shinzo Nakamura and Katsura Nishizawa to advance to the semifinals.

In the semis, the Tan-Loyola duo dueled Ray Miranda and Toni Evaristo, and the Saipan won convincingly, 6-2, 6-1, to set a title showdown with the father-and-daughter tandem of Sam and Katie Lai.

Tan also played in the women’s doubles 35-and-above division and in the women’s 4.0 singles.

Another tennis player in Rafael Jones made the top athletes list for February when the junior netter was selected Male Student Athlete of the Month. He went undefeated in the 2009 Coconut Classic Tennis Tournament at the American Memorial Park tennis courts en route to ruling the boys’ 14-and-under singles division.

Jones prevailed over Christian Miller in the finals boosting the former’s chances to become the No. 1 player in his age group.

Kagman High School’s Yvonne Bennett took the Female Student Athlete of the Month plum after leading the Lady Ayuyus to a three-peat in the MISO caging. Bennett and the Lady Ayuyus defeated Marianas High School in the finals, 56-47, to defend the girls varsity title for the third straight time.

Staal completed the February’s best club after securing the Male Athlete of the Month title.

The 14-year-old swimmer earned the nod of NMASA members after his record-breaking performance in last month’s Saipan Swim Club Heptathlon Swim Meet at the Kan Pacific Swimming Pool in Marpi.

Staal made three age group (13 to 14) marks and was the No. 1 swimmer in his age group. The Tsunami Saipan swimmer posted 56.83 seconds in the 100m freestyle swim, shattering his own mark of 57.36 seconds made on Jan. 9, 2009, at the 2009 Junior Pan Pacific Championships in Guam.

In the 400m freestyle swim, Staal also broke his own record (4:34.13), timing in at 4:33.99. His previous mark in the 400m freestyle event was recorded on Dec. 28, 2008, during a meet in Guam.

Staal’s third record swim was in the 100m breaststroke, as he clocked in at 1:15.77. Again, he eclipsed his won record (1:16.17) posted in Guam in December last year.