Plenty to do before start of Oceania

As the sun crosses the mid-afternoon sky of Saipan, the Oceania Open and Under 18 Area Championships at the Townsville Sports Reserve in Queensland, Australia are set to get underway today with a field of young athletes from the Marianas.

On Sunday, the CNMI team began their quest to break records and personal bests, as Jack Kabriel, Ivan De Vero, Daryl Roligat, Anne Marie Satur, Lei Rangamar, Tony Ichiuo, Jeremy Winkfield, Marcan Aldan, Elias Rangamar, and Dolores Rangamar boarded an Australia-bound plane.

Ichiuo, Roligat, Winkfield, and De Vero will be the first to see action for the local team—and with the exception of Ichiuo—all will be running in their first-ever track and field event in a foreign land.

In the last few days, they have had a chance to settle in to their surroundings before competing against teams from New Zealand, Guam, Palau, Fiji, Tahiti, Federated States of Micronesia, Tonga, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, American Samoa, Norfolk Islands, Kiribati, Nauru, Cook Islands, Vanuatu, Niue, Solomon Islands, and the host country.

While staying in the Townsville, the athletes will be living in a village akin to that of an Olympic venue, and enjoy the comforts of a university-style room.

The village will also be providing for the dietary requirements of athletes and accommodate training and competition times.

The CNMI team has kept busy in the last few days since arriving in the “Land Down Under,” as they have taken advantage of the training times at the competition venue.

According to village mayor Marie McAuliffe, the athletes will have the use of a fully equipped gym and pool throughout the week, as well as an assortment of movies, board games and pool tables in their common room.

In much the same way as the Little League teams were able to communicate with family members when they took their trip to the mainland over the summer, the athletes will have Internet terminals available in the common room as well.

Last night, all of the athletes and coaches enjoyed the sights and sounds of Townsville’s premier beach, The Strand, following the games’ opening ceremony.

McAuliffe also assured that there will be a night of feasting, music, and dancing following the completion of competition on Saturday, and that all of the visiting teams have been asked to perform their country’s national dance.