Gross, Igitol, Andrew, Schmidt place in throwing events

Gross

More CNMI athletes of the Oceania Cup had podium finishes in their respective field events and handed the team some points last Friday and Saturday at the Oleai Sports Complex.

Nick Gross placed second in the men’s javelin throw as he speared his way through with a distance of 45.56m. Melanesia’s Karo Iga took first with his 52.04m throw and third went to NMI’s Douglas Schmidt with a distance of 43.12m.

Maria Igitol placed third in the women’s javelin throw with a distance of 26.50m. First place went to Melanesia’s Sharon Taoko with a throw of 46.56m for a huge lead; second place went to Micronesia’s Genie Gerardo with a distance of 27.11m; and fourth place went to the CNMI’s Kina Rangamar with a throw of 23.87m.

Lyle Andrew also handed the CNMI more points as he threw a distance of 22.60m which was good enough for third place. Australia’s Benjamin Voogd won first place with the farthest distance of 54.76m and second  went to Polynesia’s Elijah Poila with 22.96m.

Schmidt also competed in the high jump and triple jump and placed fourth in both events. He was also in the mixed 4x400m relay race with Cody Shimizu, Erin Frink, and Kaithlyn Chavez that took fourth place.

Igitol

Igitol competed in the 100m invitational and placed sixth, in the 100m and placed 11th, and placed 14th in the 200m. For Andrew, he also joined the shot put and placed seventh and placed fourth in the discus throw.

For 19-year-old Igitol, she said, “Honestly, coming in third place caught me by surprise. I am fairly new to throwing the javelin and only had a couple of days to practice the technique and get everything down. I was quite nervous to be throwing and so I didn’t expect much from myself in this event since it was my first javelin competition.”

She added, “My ultimate goal was to just show up, do my best and give it my all, which I did! Overall, I am extremely blessed with the outcome and beyond grateful to be given the opportunity to take part in representing my home once again.”

She thanked her coach, Elias Rangamar, the Northern Marianas Athletics team, and her family for supporting her in her journey. “I’d also like to extend my thanks to the OAA for an incredible experience,” she said.

As for the 21-year-old Andrew, he said, “I don’t really know how to feel [about] getting bronze, I just got lucky. I did the discus, shot put, and hammer throw. I’d say I had a lot of fun during this competition. Although I didn’t perform as well as I wish I could, I did learn a lot from all the different athletes and coaches.”

Results of the master’s events will be posted in the next issues of Saipan Tribune.