Triathlon, basketball share honors

Triathlon’s Mieko Carey, Brian Morris, and Kaisei Toda and basketball’s Christian Mizer and Jamie Mendoza were selected top performers for March during last week’s NMASA meeting at the conference room of the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium.

Morris and Carey were name NMASA March Athletes of the Month, while Toda, Mizer, and Mendoza earned the Tan Siu Lin Foundation/NMASA Student Athletes of the Month awards.

Morris got NMASA members’ nod after his impressive race in last month’s 2012 XTERRA Saipan Championship. The Hopwood Junior High School employee topped the 30 to 34 age group of the 1.5-kilometer swim, 32-km bike, and 12-km run and was the first male non-pro finisher from Saipan, clocking in at 3:17:22. Morris also joined the 2012 Tagaman Triathlon, teaming up with John Jenkins and doing the swim leg of the road race.

Carey competed both in XTERRA Saipan and Tagaman and in XTERRA Guam. She started the busy month with a fourth-place finish in XTERRA Guam and then had another Top 4 ranking in XTERRA Saipan. In Tagaman, she moved up to third, beating XTERRA champion Renata Bucher.

Toda was the youngest participant in the solo races both in XTERRA and Tagaman at 14 years old. The Saipan Southern High School student joined XTERRA Sport and won his age group after clocking in at 2:17:14. Then the following week, he completed the longer Tagaman race in 4:21:10.

Mendoza played for Marianas High School, which competed in the annual Settsu-Saipan friendship basketball tournament. Mendoza’s Lady Dolphins went on to lose the championship against the Japanese visitors, but she earned the Most Valuable Player award after consistently leading MHS’ offense.

Mizer also played in the Settsu-Saipan competition, suiting up for the MISO All-Stars, who won the boys championship against 2010 winner Kagman High School. The big man was at the forefront of both the offense and defense of the MISO All-Stars, helping the team win the championship for the first time.

Mizer also played for the Saipan Southern High School in last month’s MISO varsity caging and led the Rays to a third place finish behind champion Tinian High School and runner-up MHS.

All five March awardees are now qualified for the 2012 NMASA athletes (students and male and female) of the year awards.