3rd time for Schorr, Sapong

Robbie Schorr and Zarinae Sapong earned their third top athlete award, while Tania Tan and Rodrigo Ada got their first during the 2018 NMSA Tan Siu Lin Foundation Annual Sports Banquet held last night at the Hibiscus Hall of the Fiesta Resort & Spa Saipan.

Schorr and Tan were named the TSL Foundation Male and Female Student Athletes of the Year for their outstanding performance in tennis and athletics. Sapong, also from athletics, took the Female Athlete of the Year trophy, while Ada of weightlifting brought home the Male Athlete of the Year award.

The 16-year-old Schorr was recognized for ruling the boys U16 singles event in the 2018 Pacific Oceania Junior Championships. He stunned the No. 1 seed player in the POJC to rank first in the region that is made up of 22 countries. The Saipan International School student also suited up for the Pacific Oceania Team that played and was promoted in the Asia/Oceania Junior Davis Cup. He represented the CNMI in ITF Junior tournaments in Fiji, New Caledonia, and Australia. Schorr won the NMSA Male Athlete of the Month twice last year (March and July) and added his 2018 trophy to the ones he got in 2014 and 2016.

Tan, another SIS student, made it to the elite list of U18 athletes, after her medal-winning performances in the Oceania Micronesian Regional Championships 2018 hosted at the Oleai Sports Complex, and impressive runs in local and regional races.

The 17-year-old clinched gold medals in the 5,000 and 3,000m runs and silver in the 1,500m event in the Oceania Micronesia meet in June. Then last October, she reigned supreme in the 2018 Northern Marianas Athletics/Public School System All Schools Cross Country Championships, while last November, she won in her age group in the 34th Annual Mt. Tapochao Turkey Trot Run.

Tan was also a perennial winner in 5K and 10K events on Saipan and in Guam, she led the CNMI to a Top 3 finish in the 2018 Asia Pacific Invitational Cross Country Championships. Tan, who won the NMSA monthly award three times last year, was also the first Commonwealth runner to make it to the All-Island Team in the Asia Pacific race.

Sapong, who was Female Athlete of the Year in 2016 and 2017, joined Tan on the CNMI Team that competed in the Oceania Micronesian Regional Championships 2018 and bagged the gold in the 100m and silver in the 200m run. Then less than two months after the competition on Saipan, Sapong went to Yap for the 2018 Micronesian Games and brought home a gold medal (200m run) and bronze (4x400m relay). Earlier in March last year, the 21-year-old athlete set a personal best time in the 60m run in the 17th IAAF World Indoor Championships held in Birmingham, United Kingdom.

While the three top awardees for 2018 have been joining international and local events for the past several years, Ada is a newcomer to competitions.

In fact, he just got into weightlifting (less than a year) when he donned the CNMI colors in the Micro Games. Despite his lack of experience, the Public School System employee made a good account of himself in his regional competition debut, winning a pair of silver medals and one bronze in Yap.