Rosario, Lizama, Nabors top 1st-ever sling stone tilt

Jester Rosario from Rota gears up to sling a stone at the bullseye during last weekend’s first-ever All-Marianas sling stone competition as part of 2021 Gineptin Ha’anen Taga Festival on Tinian. Rosario placed second in the men’s open category, scoring 13 points after five rounds. (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)

Guelu Rosario, Denicia Lizama from Rota, and Keith Nabors Jr. from Tinian led the cast of winners in the first-ever All-Marianas sling stone competition that was held as part of last weekend’s 2021 Gineptin Ha’anen Taga Festival on Tinian.

Keith Nabors, who organized the competition, said the event’s 21 competitors from Saipan, Tinian, Rota, and Guam competed in three categories: men’s open, women’s, and U16 and a total of 16 competitors walked away with prizes, and non-competitors were treated to sling stone lessons and free slings from Nabors.

Rosario, who is from Rota, won first place in the men’s category, followed by second placer Jester Rosario from Rota. In third place was JoeRay Mangloña and fourth was Ringo Reyes from Tinian.

The women’s category only had two competitors and Lizama, who is from Rota, was one hit on the target enough to beat out Siena Lazaro from Tinian for first place.

First place in the U16 category was Keith Nabors Jr. from Tinian; second was KyMani Nabors from Tinian; third was Jose Mangloña from Tinian; and fourth was Cody Dela Cruz from Tinian.

A special award was given to 6-year-old Roque Dueñas Jr. from Saipan, who came out to the Taga Fest for the competition, said Nabors.

From left holding their prizes; third place in the men’s open category JoeRay Mangloña from Tinian; men’s first place Guelu Rosario from Rota; women’s second place Siena Lazaro; men’s second place Jester Rosario from Rota; and U16 fourth place Cody Dela Cruz from Tinian share a photo with other competitors after last weekend’s first-ever All-Marianas sling stone competition as part of 2021 Gineptin Ha’anen Taga Festival on Tinian. A special award was given to 6-year-old Roque Dueñas Jr. from Saipan, who came out to Taga Fest for the competition. Also pictured is competition organizer Keith Nabors, third from right. (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)

Keith Nabors explained Monday that the competitors had to stand 75 feet away from a large target with a bullseye in the middle, with zero points awarded for misses, one point for hitting the board, and two points for hitting the bullseye. Every competitor competed in five rounds, three throws each round, to post up the best score possible.

Keith Nabors was very pleased with the turnout and with how the event was run and that Tinian Mayor Edwin P. Aldan himself told Nabors that he would like to see the sling stone competition return for 2022 Taga Fest.

“It was awesome, and I’m totally excited for the things to come. …Next year, hopefully we can get more competitors out and more people interested. …It’s just awesome to share the culture and get the kids back into their roots, and I just want to see the sport develop,” he said.

Keith Nabors added that he’d like to see sling stone throwing be part of next year’s Pacific Mini Games, which Saipan will host, and he has aspirations of sending some of the CNMI’s young slingers to an international sling stone throwing competition in Spain sometime next year.