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Mission accomplished
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Posted on Jun 16 2011
The CNMI Junior Team achieved what it aimed for in the 2011 North Pacific Qualifying Tournament being played at the Rick Ninete Tennis Center in Guam.
The Commonwealth netters clinched 10 of the 20 slots on the North Pacific Team with U18’s Rafael Jones and Thea Minor, U15, Jake Lee, Christian Miller, Melody Johnson, and Mikayla Lopez, and U12’s Carl Dela Cruz, Moris Villanueva, Negahr Rastguiy, and Tammy Ackerman making it to the squad.
The CNMI players-dominated North Pacific Team will be competing against the West and East squads in the 2011 Pacific Oceania Junior Championships and 2011 Oceania Closed Junior Championships in Lautoka, Fiji in August. Guam gained six berths, while the Federates States of Micronesia and Palau had two each.
Slots were given only to the Top 2 finishers in the U18 division and Top 4 in the U15 and U12 age groups. Each nation is limited to get only two slots in each age group.
Jones and Minor claimed the championships in the boys U18, while Dela Cruz and Lopez also triumphed in the U15 age group. Villanueva and Ackerman finished third in the U12 division, while Rastguiy was a runner-up in the girls U12.
“We got what we wanted. We won 10 of the possible 11 slots on the North Pacific team, so what more can a coach asked for,” CNMI coach Jeff Race said.
“This year was one of our bests in the NPQ. All the players gave their best and they supported each other,” added Race, saying that it was the fourth straight time that the CNMI dominate the qualifying tournament.
Race brought 23 players to the NPQ. The list also includes Theecel Minor, U15’s Jake Lee, Amami Sakano, Angelo Jones, Chris Cajigan, Seiya Eda, Alina Ishikawa, Jazmin Rayphand, Colin Ramsey, Michael Ren, Luther Lizama, Michael Jones, Emily Jones, and Carol Lee. The CNMI netters are scheduled to play in the doubles competition today and then some of them will return on Saipan tonight.
