Wonenberg wins NMI’s first gold

The CNMI won its first-ever gold medal in the area championships when Jacque Wonenberg topped the under-18 women’s heptathlon of the 2008 Oceania Championships yesterday at the Oleai Sports Complex.

Trailing by points into the final day of the seven-event competition, the 16-year-old Marianas High School student passed erstwhile leader Unaloto Taui’uvea of Tonga by coming in first in two of the final three events and finishing second on the other.

Wonenberg first won the long jump by leaping 4.80m, followed by Taui’uvea’s 4.48, and teammate Li’amwar Rangamar’s 3.94m.

Rangamar then surprised her much bigger and older competitors when she took the javelin with a throw of 28.63. Wonenberg finished second with her 27.03m, while Taui’uvea was third with her 26.23.

Wonenberg then secured the hosts’ first-ever gold medal finish in the biennial competition by winning the 800m with a lightning-fast time of 2:39.80. Rangamar was second with her 3:00.36, while Taui’uvea settled for third, clocking in at 3:06.51.

Interviewed by the Saipan Tribune shortly after the announcement of her victory in the heptathlon, the daughter of Barry and Maggie Wonenberg said she was not expecting to win the event, as she only started training seriously a month or so ago.

“I only started on hurdles last month and I’ve been training for javelin not so long and I haven’t been doing middle distance and been only doing sprints and some jump work but I’m surprised… My coaches Eli [Rangamar], Robin [Sapong], Ron [Olopai], and Kara really helped me a lot,” she said.

For his part, CNMI National Athletics coach Elias Rangamar congratulated Wonenberg for her feat and didn’t waste time heaping praises to her ward.

“I guess hat’s off to Jacque and Lia for working together. I don’t know I’m really speechless still. Our first gold medal in over 12 years of competing in the Oceania Championships. It’s amazing we’ve been coming to this event for years and we’re lucky to win one here on Saipan, on home soil.

“Man, I’m ecstatic. She’s proven why she’s athlete of the year [for NMASA]. Right now, I don’t know what else to say probably later on I could say more things,” he said, adding that Wonenberg won the gold despite her on-and-off training because of canoeing and her school commitments.

On Thursday, Wonenberg topped the 200m sprint (28.03), the 100m hurdles (16.83), and the shot put (8.92m), but lost by far to Taui’uvea in the high jump (1.52m to 1.31m).

Aside from the heptahlon gold, Wonenberg also added a bronze by finishing third in the under-18 long jump with a leap of 4.79. The event was won by Olivia Blundell of New Zealand (5.08m), followed by Cook Islands’ Patricia Taea (5.02m).

Several local athletes, meanwhile, also struck gold for the hosts.

Trevor Ogumoro, for instance, came in second in the men’s under-18 octathlon with 3,256 points. Lars Fa’apoi won the gold with 4,288 points, while third place went to Guam’s Aldrin Zapanta who finished with 2,891 points.

Ogumoro also took the bronze in the under-18 long jump by jumping 1.60m. First and second were athletes from New Zealand. Nick Gerard won the gold with his 1.90m with Michael Cochrane the silver with his 1.65m.

Jenequa Benavente, meanwhile, won her second and third medals of the Championships when she took home the silver in the under-18 women’s discus with her throw of 33.67. She was second to Tasele Satupai of Samoa (45.08m) and ahead of Perle Buard of Tahiti (32.19m).

She also salvaged a bronze in the women’s under-18 hammer. Satupai won the gold with her 34.58, followed by Buard (31.57m) and Benavente took the bronze with her 27.57m throw.

Veteran Ketson “Jack” Kabiriel also gave the CNMI another silver by finishing second to Norfolk Islands’ Tom Rogers in the men’s 3000m steeplechase. Rogers won the gold with his time of 12:18.36 with Kabiriel not that far behind with his 12:20.07.

With medal contributions from Wonenberg and company, the CNMI currently sits in eighth place in the medal standings with a haul of one gold, five silver, and seven bronze medals.