Canoe teams named; support sought

The Northern Marianas National Paddle Sports Federation has selected the members of the CNMI men’s and women’s outrigger canoe teams that will compete in the 2018 Micronesian Games in Yap.

NMNPSF president Justin Andrew, in an email sent to Saipan Tribune, said the men’s crew is made up of Jose Quan, Rich Salas, James Lee, Jason Tarkong, Bobby Cruz, Joshua Andrew, Billy Grow, Maverick Itibus, and Dino Manning. Both Tarkong and Manning will serve as paddlers and coaches of the men’s squad.

“The NMI men’s national team is made up of mostly the men’s crew members of the Marianas Outrigger Canoe Club (MOC), while Joshua Andrew is a member of the Saipan Paddling Club’s men’s team. The team is stacked with seasoned paddlers who have competed and made headlines in regional competitions recently. The team is also comprised of returning members of the 2014 Micronesian Games in Pohnpei and the 2015 Pacific Games in Papua New Guinea,” Justin added.

The squad has been preparing for the Micro Games for the last six months, mixing up their land-based workout with ocean-based training regimen. They train three times a week and early morning before reporting for work, according to the NMNPSF head.

As for the women’s side, the squad practices four times a week and has also been training in the last six months. Shelli Neal, Arielle Buyum, Kristine Falig, Maria Ornes, Elizabeth Tenorio, Victoria Camama Saures, Lorenza Aldan, and Mayiah Duenas are the members of the team, which will be coached by Justin Andrew. Ed Johnson is the group’s assistant coach.

Justin said it will be the first time since 2006 that the CNMI is fielding a women’s team in the Micronesian Games’ outrigger canoe competition.

“The women’s team is made up of mostly the crew members of Marianas Pacific Paddlers, while Kristine Falig is from Saipan Paddling Club, and Mayiah Duenas is the youngest member of the team and from the Napu Outrigger Canoe Club’s junior girls squad,” Justin said.

“Although many of them have not had high level exposure to paddling competitions, such as Micronesian Games or the Pacific Games, they come with passion and determination to make the CNMI proud. Many of the women’s crew members have competed in numerous local outrigger races, including the popular region outrigger paddling competition, the Micronesia Cup, that attracts paddlers from Palau, Guam, Hongkong, Australia, and Japan,” he added.

Both the men’s and women’s canoe teams are asking for financial assistance for their trip to Yap, which will host the Micro Games from July 15 to 28.

“On behalf of the Northern Marianas National Paddle Sports Federation, we are most humbled and thankful to all our supporters, friends and families for all the support they have put in for our men’s and women’s national teams. Catch up with one of the members and buy tickets or make a generous donation to the teams,” Justin said.

Donations can also be made through https://www.gofundme.com/support-cnmi-national-vaa-teams for the women’s team and https://www.gofundme.com/marianas-outrigger-club for the men’s crew.