NMI lifters join virtual tourney

In this file photo, Deion Sabino is seen here competing in the Northern Marianas Cup Weightlifting Tournament last Februrary at the Pedro P. Tenorio Multi-Purpose Center in Susupe. (Saipan Tribune)

Three CNMI weightlifters competed in the third round of the 2020-2021 Oceania Weightlifting Federation League Email Tournament held early this month.

Leo Apelo, Deion Sabino, and Raegine Camacho suited up for Pacific Team 2, joining forces with representatives from the Federated States of Micronesia, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Palau, and Guam. Other OWF member-countries formed their own team, while smaller island groups combined their athletes with Pacific Team 1 made up of weightlifters from the Cook Islands, Tahiti, American Samoa, Tong, Niue, and Wallis & Futuna.

Pacific 1 and 2 crossed paths in the third round with the former winning by 208.90 kg. Each team’s scores were determined by subtracting the team’s total bodyweight from the aggregate total (the 14 members combined record in snatch and clean and jerk). Pacific 1 registered 2,944 kg aggregate total and had a bodyweight of 1,341 kg for 1,603 kg against Pacific 2’s 1,394.10 kg (2,469 kg aggregate minus bodyweight of 1,074.90 kg).

Apelo, with body weight of 100 kg, posted 110 kg and 145 kg in the snatch and clean & jerk, respectively. Sabino, who hit the scales at 86.90 kg, tallied 70 kg in the snatch and 85 in the clean & jerk, while Camacho, with bodyweight of 78 kg, logged 65 kg in the snatch and 82 in the clean & jerk.

Apelo had the best aggregate total in Pacific Team 2’s men’s crew with his 255 kg, followed by Palau’s Stevick Patris (250 kg) and New Caledonia’s Kyle Michel (242) kg. In the women’s division, the Top 3 were Guam’s Brittney Pereda (170 kg) and Armie Almazan (162 kg) and New Caledonia’s Julie Del Corral (152 kg).

In this file photo, women’s 81-kg gold medalist Raegine Camacho, left, is joined in the photo by Latte Built Center owner Derek Cutting during the awards ceremony for the Northern Marianas Cup Weightlifting Tournament held last February at the Pedro P. Tenorio Multi-Purpose Center in Susupe. Camacho was among the CNMI’s three representatives to the third round of the 2020-2021 Oceania Weightlifting Federation League Email Tournament. (Saipan Tribune)

In other result in the third round, Kiribati downed Fiji; Australia prevailed over the Solomon Islands; Samoa topped Papua New Guinea; and New Zealand defeated Nauru.

The 2020-2021 Oceania Weightlifting Federation League Email Tournament is being held in celebration of OWF’s 40th anniversary and it’s a seven-month tournament that started in July and will conclude in January 2021.

After three rounds, Samoa, New Zealand, and Kiribati and unbeaten and are tied for the lead with 9 points apiece. Australia is in solo second place with 7 points, while Nauru, Pacific 1, PNG, and the Solomon Islands have 5 points apiece. Fiji and Pacific 2 are at the bottom of the 10-team field with 3 points each.

Meanwhile, the fourth round will be held on Oct. 2 with CNMI weightlifters competing at the Latte Built Fitness Center in Susupe. The facility also hosted the third round and the CNMI Weightlifting Federation would like to thank Latte Built Fitness Center owner Derek Cutting for accommodating the group anew.