Ball, Calma paddle to first place in V1

From left, open women’s V1 first place Pipit Ball, second place Erryne Dasalla, first place in the junior girls 19 Vinalynn Oronigo, and second place Gracie Mendiola pose for a photo with their medals after the awarding ceremony of the Northern Marianas National Paddling Sports Federation Va’a V6/V1 Slalom Race series last Saturday in the waters off Kilili Beach in Susupe.(LEIGH GASES)

Pipit Ball and Carter Calma were the fastest in the Slalom V1 after the finale of the Northern Marianas National Paddling Sports Federation Va’a V6/V1 Slalom Race series last Saturday in the waters off Kilili Beach in Susupe.

In the women’s division, Ball’s fastest time is 26:13.470, while Calma’s fastest time is 22:44.630. 

For the open women’s V1, Ball also claimed first place overall from the total points of their three races from last May 20, June 3, and the finals with 60 points.

Second was Maria Ornes with 30 points and Erryne Dasalla came in third with 25 points.

For the open men’s V1, Calma was first again with 60 points; Maverick Itibus came in second with 40 points; Jason Tarkong was a close third with 35 points; Richard Sikkel and Joe Weaver were tied in fourth place with 13 points; and Justin Andrew was fifth place with 11 points.

In the junior 19 girls V1 race, Vinalynn Oronigo’s fastest time is 28:27.010, while in the junior 19 boys, Tyler Andrew’s fastest time is 24:11.830.

First place in the junior girls was Oronigo with 55 points and second was Gracie Mendiola at 35 points. In the Junior Boys, Tyler Andrew was first with 60 points and Jermaine Salas was second with 30 points.

For Ball, who was also in the V6 women’s team for Marianas Outrigger Club, the race was good, competitive, and satisfying as she only trained six times in the past year. Her training consisted of going out of the reef so “I learned to train in different weather, when there’s big waves, learned which is good for steering, and about wind direction.”

From left, open men’s V1 first place Carter Calma, second place Maverick Itibus, and third place Jason Tarkong pose for a photo after the finale of the Northern Marianas National Paddling Sports Federation Va’a V6/V1 Slalom Race series last Saturday in Kilili Beach in Susupe.(LEIGH GASES)

In her V1 race, she said she competed against two juniors and three other women paddlers and that “we tried our hardest to paddle the farthest away from everybody. It was really competitive and I like it, especially for the youngsters. We see their competitive attitude and it gives a good challenge. I wanted them to have more training and it’s giving them more encouragement to beat me next year.”

The 38-year-old Ball, who is also a weightlifter, represented Team NMI in the 2022 Pacific Mini Games, was asked what sport she will choose to represent in this year’s Pacific Games in the Solomon Islands. She said “I don’t know which one but I’ll try my best in both sports. If I can make it to weightlifting, I’ll do that, but if there’s an option for me, I’d like to do both. But if not, then at least one. 

Calma, who has been paddling for 23 years, said about winning the finals, “hard work always prevails—just put in time.” 

About the competition, he said “it was good. We always need more guys or more pressure. The level would always get higher when there’s stronger guys or stronger ladies. That’s the only way paddling will evolve is through pressure. We need more races for us to get stronger.”

The hardest part about the race, he said, was going against yourself. “People will say it’s the conditions but you just have to stay calm and relax. If you get more tense, you’ll get tired. So stay loose and relaxed.”