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Ackerman leads May awardees
Returning CNMI junior tennis player Tammy Ackerman joined the honor roll for May, as she and three others were recognized for their notable performances in various tournaments last month.
Tammy Ackerman practices her smash near the net during a warm-up in last month’s 2014 IT&E Northern Marianas Juniors Championships at the Pacific Islands Club hard courts. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)
With her outstanding comeback, Northern Marianas Sports Association named the 14-year-old Ackerman as NMSA/TSL Foundation Female Student Athlete of the Month. Ackerman shared the monthly student award with swimmer Kensuke Kimura, who was selected for his record-breaking races during the 2014 Oceania Swimming Championships.
The 18-year-old Kimura reset CNMI national marks in the 100m backstroke (1:02.67), 50m backstroke (28.94 seconds), and 200m backstroke (2:18.04) in the four-day competition held at the West Wave Aquatic Centre in Auckland, New Zealand. Besides earning three CNMI national records, Kimura also brought home with him a bronze medal, which he gained in the 200m backstroke event after placing third behind Australia’s Nicholas Groenewald (2:03.56) and New Zealand’s Bradley Ashby (2:07.30).
Joining Kimura and Ackerman on the May honor list were biker Athena Andrews and bowler Alex Castro.
Andrews was named NMSA Female Athlete of the Month for ruling the Tour De Tinian. She finished the 100-kilometer MTB race in 5:12:35 to prevail over fellow Saipan biker Glorybel Tan (6:08:13) and was ranked fourth overall, defeating a bunch of male participants. The Saipan International School teacher also topped the female division of “Road to Hell,” a 40-kilometer race Northern Mariana Islands Cycling Federation organized to prepare local bikers for the Hell of Marianas.
Meanwhile, Castro got NMASA’s nod after winning the 32nd May Masters Tournament against 25 other bowlers. He came from behind to clinch his second May Masters crown, as he was ranked third after the 11th game before he collected 224 pinfalls in Game 12 to win by only seven pinfalls. Castro totaled 2,832 pinfalls to beat the 2,375 and 2,370 of Rusty Musca and Robert Talavera, respectively.
The May Masters champion also prevailed in the doubles event of the annual competition, partnering with Talavera. He also had a runner-up finish in the team event, joining forces with Paul Pangelinan, Raul Dumapit, and Percy Omechelng.
