WPS, Saipan Little League receive early gifts

Whispering Palms and Saipan Little League Baseball, Inc got early Christmas presents last week.

Whispering Palms bagged two championships, a week before the Christmas break. The Navy Hill-based school won both the girls and boys U12 division of the 2013 NMIFA/PSS Interscholastic League. In the boys U12 division finals, Whispering Palms edged Saipan International School with Sunjoon Tenorio making the winning goal for the champion squad. In the girls finale, Guinevere Borja scored the lone goal in Whispering Palms’ 1-0 conquest of San Antonio Elementary School.

SLLB, Inc. was on an offseason, but still received an early Christmas gift from Saipan World Resort, which donated $10,000 for the youth program. The donation will be used for the Saipan Little League’s 2014 season, which is set to kick off on Jan. 17.

In other notable events last week, two MMA fighters kept their division championship after recording wins in Trench Warz 17: Night of the Champions. Heavyweight champion Mylo “Bam Bam” Lassiter won via tapout (arm choke) against challenger Neil “The Lionheart” Taisacan just 40 minutes into the first round of their five-round title bout.

In the featherweight title match, Trench Tech’s Josh “Chaos” Duenas retained his crown after earning submission win via arm bar against Zalaka’s Jordan “The Machine” Manglona 1:47 into the first round.

Also regaining title victories were husband and wife Percy and Gloria Omechelang. Percy ruled the Saipan Bowling Association/Budweiser December King of the Lanes Tournament, while Gloria prevailed in the Queen of the Lanes roll-offs.

In badminton, Saipan Badminton Club clinched its third straight championship after beating Shirley’s Badminton Club in the finals of the 7th Traders Insurance Badminton Team Tournament at the TSL Sports Complex.

In basketball, the DL Corp. caging was down to two teams with San Antonio surviving Island Floral in the second semis game and Docomo cruising past I Love Saipan in the first Final Four match at the Gualo Rai Basketball Court.

At the Minatchom Atdao Pavilion across the Oleai Sports Complex, 88 runners lined up for the start of Saipan Swim Club’s 7th Annual Jingle Bell Fun Run . Saipan Southern High School’s Seida Eda went on to lead the finishers in the 4.5-kilometer race.