Aleksenko, Jin hailed ’22 student athletes

A couple of Marianas High School students—Isaiah Aleksenko, fifth from left, and Zhi Min Jin, fifth from right, were named the 2022 NMSA Student Athletes of the Year during the 2022 NMSA Annual Sports Award Banquet Tuesday at the Hibiscus Hall in the Crowne Plaza Resort Saipan.(LEIGH GASES)

A couple of Marianas High School students—Isaiah Aleksenko and Zhi Min Jin—were named 2022 NMSA Student Athletes of the Year during the 2022 NMSA Annual Sports Banquet Tuesday at the Hibiscus Hall in the Crowne Plaza Resort Saipan.

Aleksenko also won this award in 2021 making it back-to-back wins for the Tsunami Saipan Swimming Center stalwart. 

For 2022, he was the only two-time monthly winner among the male nominees having won in February and December.

In February, he dominated the 7th Saipan Aquathlon and won the December award for his record-breaking swims in the 16th FINA World Championships (25M) in Australia.

Aleksenko was also part of the NMI Triathlon Team that won the bronze medal in the 2022 Northern Marianas Pacific Mini Games.

Jin, in the Mini Games, won the gold medal in the golf women’s individual event, besting adult competitors in the event. She was also named as the Best Junior Athlete of the quadrennial event.

Aleksenko said about his win, “I’m very happy that my hard work paid off. I would like to thank my mom Yulia, God, my family, my coach Hiroyuki Kimura, Ms. Yuko [Kimura], and my teammates. I hope I can go for three years in a row, so I will work even harder this year.”

After winning for the second time, he said “It feels great, I’m very happy that I was able to win two years in a row and that means a lot to me. There are a lot of great athletes out there as well and I hope they also get the chance to get this award in the future.”

For Jin, she said “To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much after seeing the nominees for the Student Athlete of the Year Award. My thoughts from yesterday was that I’ll have to work way harder than now to compete at a higher level. The award just motivates me to grind harder and it makes me want to win more awards in the future by becoming a better athlete!”

“I dedicate this award to my parents the most this time because they deserve it! They were always supportive throughout the years and always reminded me to be grateful for what I have done. They always motivate me to move forward even when I’m struggling,” said Jin.

The event was sponsored by the TSL Foundation led by executive director Merlie Tolentino.

Results of the other NMSA Sports Banquet awards will come out in the next issues of Saipan Tribune.