NMASA Athlete of the Year banquet tomorrow

The Northern Marianas Amateur Sports Association will hold its annual Athlete of the Year banquet tomorrow night at Saipan Grand Hotel.

NMASA treasurer Margaret Palacios confirmed the Feb. 16 date of the event last Saturday during a check presentation held at the same venue, where NMASA Athlete of the Year sponsors Saipan Tribune and Tan Holdings Foundation handed the Commonwealth sports body two checks worth $1,500 to among others help defray the cost of the awards ceremony and the accompanying banquet.

Tan Holdings Corp. vice president for corporate affairs Lynn Knight requested Palacios to invite to the banquet as many nominees for the Athlete of the Year plums, especially in the aftermath of the CNMI’s cancellation of hosting the 2006 Micronesian Games.

THC president Jerry Tan, for his part, said that the company is always supportive of sports and is happy to host the annual awards ceremony for a third straight year.

Saipan Tribune publisher John Pangelinan said the accomplishment of the youth, especially in the field of sports, is always important and it is the reason why the newspaper has been a fervent supporter of sports and why it joins NMASA in celebrating its best and brightest in 2005.

Triathlon and swimming have the most nominees for the yearly awards with 12 and 11, respectively.

Women’s gold medalist in the 2005 Palau South Pacific Mini Games aquathon Anneka Sakovich leads nominees for triathlon. His teammates in the team gold Stephan Samoyloff, Dirk Sharer, Ketson “Jack” Kabiriel, Melissa Coleman, and Natasha Good are also nominated. Coleman incidentally finished third in the women’s division of the aquathon. Other triathletes nominated are Rob Carruth, Sue Knecht, Caleb Gabbie, Dawn Hammermeister-Douglas, Dominique Austin, and Shan Seman.

Mini Games gold medalist Nina Mosley spearheads the hopefuls for swimming, which accounted for 19 of the CNMI’s 21-medal total haul in Palau. The other nominees from the sport are Melissa Coleman, Minerva Cabrera, Amanda Johnson, Nicole Calvo, Myana Welch, David Palacios, Juan Camacho, Rezne Wong, Michael Camacho, and Kensuke Kimura. Kimura is the only tanker that didn’t represent the CNMI in the quadrennial event.

Athletics has seven nominees for the Athlete of the Year awards and they include World Championship and World Youth Championship participant Darrel Roligat, the mother-and-daughter pair of Dolores and Lia Rangamar, Champ Untalan, Jacque Wonenberg, Tyrone Omar, and Jeremy Winkfield.

Oceania Junior Tennis Championships campaigners Tim Quan, Audrey Motto, Ji Hoon Heo, and Nicolas Son make up the hopefuls for lawn tennis, while Mini Games bronze medalists Budhi Gurung, Chen Lin Ying, Su Dong, and alternate/coach Steven Lim are the nominees for table tennis.

Baseball, yachting, and softball each have two nominees. Tony Celis and J.P. Sablan are nominated after winning the MVPs of the Saipan Major League and SML Fall, respectively.

Janet McCullough-Stearns and Katy Johnson, meanwhile, made the list for their performance in sailing, while Tony Camacho and Mel Sakisat are in it for bagging the MVPs in the fastpitch and slowpitch softball leagues.

Wrestling’s Joe Ocampo and basketball’s Ed Diaz make up the rest of the nominees for the Athlete of the Year awards. Ocampo bagged silver medals in the South Pacific Open and Mini Games, while Diaz got the nod after winning the MVP in the 2005 Inter-Government Basketball League after leading his team, DPS II, to the championship.

The annual NMASA awards reward outstanding sports performance in four categories: Male Athlete of the Year; Female Athlete of the Year; Male Student Athlete of the Year; and Female Student Athlete of the Year.

NMASA also elevates athletes, coaches, and administrators in its Hall of Fame as well as awards a Coach of the Year plum during the event.