Prestley leads CNMI finishers in Guam race

Peter Prestley and 10 other CNMI triathletes completed the 2014 Guam National Championships and Pacific Islands Championships Triathlon held last Sunday in Merizo.

Prestley emerged as the fastest Commonwealth bet in the Olympic distance race, finishing the 1.5-kilometer swim, 40.23K bike, and 10K run in 2:28.47. He was the second placer in the men’s open division and sixth overall, less than six minutes behind champion Cameron O’Neal of Guam, who clocked in at 2:23:01.

CNMI triathletes pose for a group photo after completing their respective races in last Sunday’s 2014 Guam National Championships and Pacific Islands Championships Triathlon. (Contributed Photo)

The CNMI top finisher managed to chop off the more than 10-minute lead of O’Neal after the first two legs after pushing in the last phase of the race and timing in at 45:14 in the run leg against the 49:45 of the Guam triathlete. Prestley had split times of 27:06 and 1:15:03 in the swim and run, respectively, while O’Neal registered 23:39 and 1:08:48.

Joining O’Neal and Prestley in the Top 3 was another CNMI triathlete, Tyce Mister. Mister submitted 2:32:05, recording a faster swim time than Prestley with 24:57 and remained in second place in the division after logging 1:10:13 in the bike leg, but settled for third place when he posted 55:33 in the run part.

Completing the finishers in the men’s open Olympic distance race were Guam’s Dave Torre and the CNMI’s Butch Sublemente, who timed in at 2:36:26 and 2:56:37, respectively. Sublemente had split times of 33:52, 1:26:41, and 53:50.

In the women’s division, Amy Sletten gave the CNMI another podium finish when she bagged third place. He was one of the five triathletes in her division to break the three-hour barrier after clocking in at 2:52:49 with split times of 33:57, 1:23:15, and 54:24. Sletten joined Papua New Guinea’s Susi Pini (2:30:51) and Rachel James (2:45:40) in the Top 3.

Sletten’s fellow CNMI triathlete Kaitlin Mattos also completed the race under three hours with a division fourth-best time of 2:54:49, beating four other participants, including another Commonwealth bet Kimiko McKagan (3:03:08). Mattos posted 34:33 in the swim leg and registered 1:24:14 and 1:01:34 in the bike and run parts, respectively, while McKagan’s split times were 33:17, 1:24:42, and 1:02:38.

Meanwhile, the four other CNMI triathletes—Florence Antonio, Joshua Berger, Manny Sitchon, and Brad Ruszala—joined the age group divisions of the Olympic distance race. Antonio was the fastest among the four, completing the event in 3:03:38 for a fifth place finish in the men’s 50 to 59 age group. Sitchon was in the same group and placed seventh with a time of 3:22:11. Sitchon had a better swim time (33:59) than Antonio (38:47), but fell behind the latter, who recorded 1:19:35 and 1:00:20 in the last two legs versus the former’s 1:26:44 and 1:18:10.

Berger entered the over 60 age group and had the best split time in the swim leg among the four age group participants with his 32:28. He then logged 1:24:51 and 1:06:56 in the bike and run legs for a total time of 3:07:28. He won his age group, downing Guam’s Killy Kunimoto (3:07:44) and Robert Bevacqua (4:24:36).

Ruszala joined the 40 to 49 age group and came in at seventh place with a combined time of 3:24:55 and splits of 34:19, 1:32:24, and 1:15:02.

Meanwhile, former CNMI pro triathlete Mieko Carey was the first female finisher in the race and topped the 30 to 39 age group after tallying 2:20:26, the second best time overall. Her fellow Guam triathlete Shin Miyagi owned the fastest time in the field at 2:19:13 and the latter also ruled the men’s 30 to 39 age group.

Around 200 joined the weekend race, which also featured the sprint course.

Jerome Diyco was the CNMI’s lone entry in the sprint course and timed in at 2:58:58. He raced against Guam and PNG triathletes in the men’s open division and placed ninth with split times of 35:07 (750m swim), 1:16:19 (20K bike), and 1:05:32 (5K run).