Kuroda, Myers named athletes of the month

The Northern Marianas Sports Association has named Shuji Kuroda and Denise Myers the male and female athletes of the month, respectively, for the month of February.

According to NMSA, the choice for February athletes of the month was based off of highlight events like the 6th Aquathlon held at Pau Pau Beach and the 2020-2021 Public School System Interscholastic 4v4 Beach Volleyball League Championships held at the Fiesta Resort & Spa Saipan sand court.

Kuroda

Kuroda, Food and Beverage assistant manager at Grandvrio Saipan, was chosen as the NMSA Male Athlete of the month after he took first place in the 6th Saipan Aquathlon 5-kilometer run, 1-km swim, and 2.5-km run held last Feb. 27 at Pau Pau Beach.

Kuroda has been a consistent finisher and was a runner-up in last year’s event. His continuous training and dedication to various sporting events across the CNMI resulted in a huge improvement as displayed during off- road/road duathlon and recently, the 6th Saipan Aquathlon.

Kuroda has also proven to be friendly, respectful, and courteous to all his peers.

Myers

Myers, a health and physical education instructor for the Northern Marianas College, was chosen as NMSA’s Female Athlete of the Month after placing second in the 6th Saipan Aquathlon among 13 individuals in the Female Division.

Myers has been an avid, consistent podium finisher in run events and is now venturing into multi- sports.

NMSA also named a male student athlete of the month, Marianas High School’s Isaiah Aleksenko.

Aleksenko

Aleksenko is a formidable swimmer and started to venture into triathlon, he was even the youngest male participant during the last aquathlon event last month.

Aleksenko emerged first on the swim portion and landed silver medal by outpacing eleven adults and is one of the two participants who finished under the one-hour mark at 57:22 along with Kuroda who finished in 56.19.

Chavez

NMSA’s Female Student-Athlete of the month was Andrei Kaithlyn Chavez of Mount Carmel School.

At just 15 years old, the middle school student is an active athlete and has proven a worth competitor in swimming, biking, and running.

The young athlete came out on top in the 6th Aquathlon event where she conquered 14 female adults and placed 6th overall among 27 participants by registering 1:07:53.

Chavez is a back-to-back winner of Triathlon Association of the CNMI hosted events, also taking first place in the Saipan Duathlon.

NMSA recognized Chavez’s constant hunger for improvement and as well as her respectful nature toward peers and officials.

The Mount Carmel School boys volleyball team are named the Northern Marianas Sports Association Team of the Month for the month of February after they coasted to victory in the 2020-2021 Public School System Interscholastic 4×4 Beach Volleyball League at the Fiesta Resort & Spa Saipan sand court back in February. (Kimberly A. Bautista)

Meanwhile, NMSA awarded the NMSA Team of the Month to MCS’ Boys Beach Volleyball Team composed of Richard Steele, Merrick Toves, Jeremiah Diaz, Brandon Lee, Jun Beom Kim, and Sam (Ji Hwan) Ryu.

The team went 9-0 in the pool play rounds over two weeks and did not lose a match in the double-elimination tournament.

The team’s only loss was the first set against Grace Christian Academy in the best 2-out-of-3 championship match.

MCS was unbeaten the entire season and championship tournament, earning them a perfect season record in addition to being the 2021 PSS Boys High School 4V4 Beach Volleyball Champions.