Previous Story
Bodybuilders, swimmer Suzuki get October award
Saipan Swim Club’s Jinnosuke Suzuki won the NMSA October Athlete of the Month. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)
Bodybuilding’s Aaron Tomokane and Jennifer Cui and Saipan Swim Club’s Jinnosuke Suzuki were named the top athletes of October during the Northern Marianas Sports Association’s meeting last Thursday at the conference room of the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium.
Tomokane took the NMSA Male Athlete of the Month plum for dominating the 2016 Dee Clayton Classic as he clinched the middleweight division crown in last month’s competition (bodybuilding). The 23-year-old Tomokane, who was selected by the Commonwealth Bodybuilding Federation to represent the CNMI to the 8th World Bodybuilding and Physique Sports Championships in Pattaya, Thailand this month, also brought home the overall championship in the same event.
The Gold’s Gym trainer defeated Donivan Mendiola in the middleweight class and was adjudged the best poser in his category. For the overall championship, Tomokane also downed Mendiola, Stanley Iakopo, and former winner Jun Riodique.
Cui joined the 2016 Dee Clayton Classic, too, and prevailed in the figure category first before placing runner-up in the bikini open division to bag the NMSA Female Athlete of the Month award.
Meanwhile, the NMSA Student Male Athlete of the Month plum went to Suzuki after his record-breaking swims in the Northern Mariana Islands Swimming Federation Opening Meet held last month at the Kan Pacific Swimming Pool.
The Tanapag Elementary School student set new marks in the 100m and 200m freestyle events in the boys 9 to 10 age group. Suzuki timed in at 2:24.58 in the 200m freestyle to shatter the five-year mark of SSC’s Kento Akimaru. Akumaru’s record of 2:28.04 was made on Oct. 15, 2011.
For his second age group mark, Suzuki submitted 1:06.93, which is nearly a second faster than the 1:07.91 of Tsunami Saipan’s Ryuto Yanai, who graced the CNMI record books on March 22, 2014.
