Mami-anchored team tops relay

Mamiko Oshima-Berger had different teammates, but produced the same results, ruling the relay division in last Saturday’s 2011 Tagaman Triathlon.

Oshima-Berger, who won last year’s relay with biker Kevin Carey and swimmer Victoria Chentsova, this time teamed up with swimmer Kento Akimaru and biker Aldrin Sta. Ana and the trio combined for 3:25:58 in the 2-kilometer swim, 60-km bike, and 15-km run to lead the 12 other relay squads and ruled the mixed division.

Akimaru gave his team a three-second lead when he timed in at 28:52 in the swim leg in the waters off Pacific Islands Club in San Antonio. The 11-year-old Saipan Swim Club swimmer was third overall out of the water behind pros Ben Allen (25:16) and Jacqui Slack (28:13). Chentsova, who joined forces with biker Derek Chambers (2:05:57) and runner Caesar Danao (1:10:41), was fourth out of the water with her 28:55 and her team ended at second place with a combined time of 3:46:48.

The lead of Oshima-Berger’s team widened after the bike leg (from PIC to as far as Bird Island Lookout and to Micro Beach), as Sta. Ana recorded 1:50:39 (18th best out of 69 bikers). Then in the run leg from Micro Beach to Oleai Bra & Grill and back, Oshima-Berger timed in at 1:05:11 (11th fastest out of 69 runners/second in the relay) for the about 21-minute lead over Chentsova and company. Rounding out the Top 3 in the mixed relay division was the two-person team of Roxie Lamar and Erico Castro. Lamar did both the swim and run legs of the road race, timing in at 49:56 and 1:28:27, respectively, while the 14-year-old Castro completed the bike leg in 2:02:32.

In the men’s division, Edmund Ewing, Wilfredo Barbo, and Ketson “Jack” Kabiriel topped the field with their second fastest overall time of 3:30:17. Ewing submitted 29:11 in the swim leg, Barbo timed in at 1:54:47 in the bike, and Kabiriel logged 1:05:01, the fastest among relay runners.

The winning men’s team finished more five minutes ahead of the trio of Jeff El Hajj, Nap Dizon, and Danny Garcia. El Hajj was just 24 seconds behind Ewing in the swim leg after the former recorded 29:35. Then in the bike leg, Dizon gave his team the lead after tallying 1:47:15, about seven minutes faster than Barbo. However, Kabiriel regained the lead for this team when he caught up with Garcia, who had cramps and timed in at 1:17:13, more than 12 minutes behind the former.

Completing the Top 3 in the men’s division were the team of swimmer Ryosei Toda (32:35), bike Cesar Fortaleza (1:55:01), and runner Chang Jang Wang (1:13:51) after posting a combined time of 3:43:00, while swimmer Eden Schwartz (46:52), biker Susan Marchitti (2:37:34), and runner Janet King (1:38:21) won the women’s division with their time of 5:04:18.

Other relay finishers were Joshua Berher and Rene Calage (4:05:02); Eileen Escudero and Daniel Stafford (4:51:14); Benjamin and Ben Babauta (4:55:36), Daniel Calvo, David Santos, and George Charfauros (5:04:08); Naomi Anderson, Dora Jean Sarmiento, and Denise Perez (6:03:19); and Brian Morris and John Jenkins (5:19:58). Morris and Jenkins finished second to the last, but the latter recognized in the awards ceremony for completing the bike race from Banzai Cliff to Micro Beach with only one pedal after the other one broke.

Meanwhile, individual race results for various age groups will be published in Saipan Tribune’s Wednesday edition.