24 represent Saipan in 17th Tagaman

A total of 24 individuals represented Saipan in the 17th Tagaman Triathlon Saturday, challenging the 2-kilometer swim, 60-km bike, and 15-km run.

Finishing first among Saipan triathletes was Stuart Smith, who crushed the task by completing the race in fifth place overall with a time of 3:02:43.

Smith was strong in the swim and finished in 29:10, then hammered out an impressive bike time of 1:35:46 before finishing off the day with a 57:47 run.

For her part, Mieko Motoyoshi of the Pacific Islands Club was the first Saipan female to cross the finish line, as she placed seventh among the women and 34th overall with a time of 3:53:48.

Motoyoshi had her strokes working for her as she completed the swim in 33:45, then tackled the bike in 2:08:34 before finishing strong with a time of 1:11:29 in the run.

With the accomplishments, Smith and Motoyoshi were presented with perpetual plaques that are awarded to the top Saipan finishers during the awards banquet Saturday evening at the PIC.

Meanwhile, 2005 South Pacific Mini Games gold medallist Dirk Sharer won the men’s 45-49 division while placing 16th overall as he completed the race in 3:32:28, while PIC’s Kieran Daly was second in the men’s 40-44 division and 20th overall after clocking in at 3:31:55.

Veteran Tyce Mister also had a solid outing as he won the men’s 35-39 division with a time of 3:36:24, which was also good for 22nd overall, while Nate Hawley was second in the division and 24th overall with a time of 3:41:35.

Also making his presence felt was Ronald Villafria, who posted the third best time in the men’s 30-34 division and finished 28th overall in 3:46:31, while Butch Sublemente followed in 3:51:53.

Tamio Nishikido crossed after Sublemente in 3:52:18, and Lewie Tenorio followed Motoyoshi in 3:58:06. Kevin Carey and Yoshiharu Suzuki also broke the four-hour mark, finishing in 3:58:54 and 3:59:37.

For their part, Florian Braig, Fred Camacho, and Joshua Berger showed their spirit and toughness as they finished in 4:04:46, 4:12:51, and 4:13:26, respectively, while Saipan Tribune’s Brad Ruszala continued push strong and finished in 4:15:03.

Manny Sitchon (4:19:02), Michael Johnson (4:22:44), Kimiko Hasegawa (4:25:41), Mamiko Katayama (4:28:44), Harumi Sugihashi (5:07:59), and Takahito Kobayashi (5:29:44) also had strong races.

Also earning a round of applause was law enforcer Andrea Ozawa, who survived a rough experience to finish the race. Despite being clipped by motorists at the American Memorial Park intersection, Ozawa showed the warrior in her as she stuck to her plan, biked to Marpi and back, then tackled the run.

Also competing was Satoshi Wada.

A total of 111 athletes competed in the Tagaman.