Stearns, McCullough sail away with NMASA plum

The Northern Marianas Amateur Sports Association named Tony Stearns and Janet McCullough Athletes of the Month for September after the duo once again raised the flag of the CNMI in the sport of international sailing.

Stearns and McCullough placed second overall in the 32nd Annual Japan Hobie 16 National Championship held last Sept. 18 and 19 at Lake Hamana near Nagoya, Japan.

According to Over the Reef Yacht Club’s Kelly Bruce, the first day of racing was cancelled due to thunderstorms and lightning.

On the second day of the regatta three races were held in light and shifting winds. Stearns and McCullough placed 2nd, 4th, and 1st in the three races, narrowly missing first place overall in the contest participated in by 23 Hobie 16 teams.

The event was the 11th time that Stearns and McCullough have competed in the all-Japan Hobie 16 Championships. It was also their best finish ever, said Bruce.

Stearns and McCullough are automatically nominated to the 2004 NMASA Athlete of the Year award, which will be handed out early next year.

Also getting the nod during the NMASA monthly meeting held last Thursday at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium conference room was a pair of track and field athletes—Darryl Roligat and Reylyn Sapong.

Roligat won Male Student Athlete for September after finishing first in the 60-meter, 100m, and 200m events in the Oceania Open and under-18 Championships time trials held last Sept. 25 at the Oleai track and field facility.

The 15-year-old Marianas High School student ran the 60m in 7.36 (junior record), the 100m in 11.96, and the 200m in 24.98.

Roligat incidentally added a feather in his cap by beating training partner and mentor Tony Ichiou in the said events.

Only a month ago, Roligat finished second to Ichiou in the same races that helped him secure a slot in the Oceania Area Track and Field Championships set for December 14-17 in Australia. So far, Roligat has amassed the second most points among those vying for the seven slots in the competition.

Sapong, for her part, was recognized as Female Student Athlete for September after dominating the same Oceania Open and under-18 Championships time trials and the cross-country trials held earlier in the morning.

She first humbled the field, which also included boys, by winning the 1-mile cross-country course in a time of 7:12. Sapong would later train her sights in the afternoon’s Oceania Open and under-18 championships, where she finished first in both the 200m (35.51) and 400m (1:17.73), second in both the 60m (10.14) and 100m (16.51), and third in the 800m (3:01.64), where she became the youngest qualifier for the Oceania Area Track and Field Championships. She also finished fourth in the long jump (2.39m).

The 5th grader from Koblerville Elementary School already holds all the sprint record for her age group and will be one of the top prospects for the 2006 Micronesian Games.