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CNMI sprinters enter finals
CNMI runners Rachel Abrams and Orrin Pharmin made it to the finals of their respective races during the opening of the Oceania Regional Championships 2012 yesterday at the Barlow Park in Cairns, Australia.
Abrams competed in the U20 100m run and timed in at 13.09 seconds. She finished fourth on Heat 2 and beat runners from Guam, Tonga, Australia, and Papua New Guinea to qualify in the finals.
In the championship race, Abrams improved her time, as she almost broke the 13-second barrier after clocking in at 13:01. The 17-year-old sprinter also eclipsed the 13.40 seconds she registered in the 100m run in the 2012 Pacific Games in New Caledonia. The CNMI bet finished sixth out of 11 runners in the finals behind Nauru’s Chrissa Detanamo (12.36 seconds), Fiji’s Elenoa Sailosi (12.58 seconds), Australia’s Cristina Smundin (12.71 seconds), PNG’s Adrine Monagi (12.76 seconds), and the Cook Islands’ Patricia Taea (12.78 seconds).
In the men’s open 200m run, Pharmin was on Heat 2 and placed fifth to advance to the finals, timing in at 25.87 seconds. Fiji’s Roy Ravana led the qualifiers with the fastest time (21.60 seconds) in three heats. The finals of the 200m race was played yesterday afternoon and results were unavailable at press time.
Besides Pharmin and Abrams also seeing action in Day 1 of the Oceania championship were Lia Rangamar and Yvonne Bennett.
Bennett competed in the women’s open 200m run and completed the race in 27.04 seconds, which is more than one second slower than her personal best and Micronesian record (25.67 seconds). The 22-year-old runner finished sixth behind Australia’s Larissa Chambers (24.70 seconds), New Zealand’s Zoe Ballantyne (24.97 seconds), Fiji’s Suliana Batirau Gusuival (25.35 seconds), Australia’s Amanda Morris (25.98 seconds), and New Zealand’s Larissa Dyke (25.85 seconds).
Rangamar participated in the javelin throw and shot put. In javelin, she logged her best throw (35.31 meters) in her second try to place third behind New Zealand’s Tori Peeters (45.49m) and the Cook Islands’ Patricia Taea (37.40m). In shot put, Rangamar recorded 8.90m to finish seventh. American Samoa’s Alexandra Morgan topped the event with his 12.45m.
Michael Mancao and Beo Ngirchongor were scheduled to race in the 400m run yesterday, but results of their heats were unavailable at press time.
Competition in the championship will continue today and tomorrow with Reylynn Sapong debuting in the U20 400m race this afternoon and later joining forces with Abrams, Bennett, and Rangamar for the women’s 4x100m relay.
By Roselyn Monroyo
Reporter
