First of qualifying trials in the books

The first qualifying trial hosted by the Northern Marianas Athletics to select a team to represent the Commonwealth in the upcoming Micronesian Athletics Championships is in the books.

Several athletes determined at bagging slots put their skills to the test Saturday afternoon at the Oleai Sports Complex track and field facility, as officials hosted two field events and two run events.

As expected, youth sprinter Darrel Roligat dominated the 100m dash as he bested four other runners with a speedy time of 11.52 seconds. The Chalan Lau Lau resident exploded off the blocks and led from beginning to end. Right behind Roligat was multi-sport athlete Tyrone Omar, who clocked in at 11.62 seconds, while Carter Calma crossed the finish line in 12.52 seconds to take third place. Also competing were Nate Mateo and Champ Untalan, who finished in times of 13.39 and 13.71 seconds.

Reylyn Sapong was the lone female sprinter and sped away for a time of 15.76 seconds. She also topped the 400m run with a time of 1:17.82.

Roligat also surprised those in attendance as he also won the men’s 400m race, crossing the finish line in 1:01.92. Calma followed in 1:02.21, while Omar took third in 1:03.58. Chang-Whan Jang (1:09.05), Mateo (1:17.52), and Untalan (1:18.36) also competed.

Untalan had a fair share of the spotlight as he stole the stage in the men’s 1,500m competition. Pacing himself well through the first two and a half laps, Untalan began picking up his pace and later worked himself to second place. With only 200m left, Untalan kicked it into turbo mode and sprinted ahead to take first place with a time of 5:19.94.

Jang, who earlier in the day competed in the Saipan International School 5K Fun Run, led for all but the last 200 meters and finished in second in 5:36.40 while Mateo placed third in 5:39.67.

Noriko Jim topped the women’s field with a time of 5:32.12 while youngster Bo Wang clocked in at 5:36.74.

Meanwhile, Joe Saures dominated the men’s shot put as his throw of 11.79 meters enabled him to finish on top of the mountain. Ronald Olopai placed second with a throw of 10.70 meters while Sidro Tebuteb made a return to the sport and threw for 10.05 meters for third place.

Also making a return was Micronesian Games medallist Julie Tokyo, who record a throw of 8.50 meters in the women’s competition.

Tokyo was also the lone female competitor in the discus and her best throw of the day featured the disc landing some 26.87 meters across the field.

For his part, Tebuteb ruled the men’s discus with a throw of 36.79 meters while Saures (32.36) and Olopai (31.73) placed second and third.

The Championships will be held on Dec. 14 and 15 on Saipan and will play host to about 100 athletes from the CNMI, Guam, Palau, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, and Kiribati.