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Saipan MOC overachievers in Micro Cup
Members of the Saipan Saipan Marianas Outrigger Canoe celebrate after placing third in the men’s Open 1,000m sprint in the 2014 Micronesia Cup outrigger canoe race at the Agana Bay in Hagåtña in Guam over the weekend. (Contributed Photo)
That’s why members of the Saipan Marianas Outrigger Canoe were surprised to find out that their two-month training paid off when the nine-member crew figured prominently against strong teams from Guam, Hong Kong and Palau. The Dino Manning-coached Saipan MOC was one of five CNMI teams that competed in the weekend event, joining Saipan Paddling Club, junior squads Holokahi and Saipan PC, and one women’s crew.
“We joined three events—500m and 1,000m Open men’s sprints, and the 12-mile men’s Open long distance—and we were in the mixed in three considering that we practiced less than two months,” said Manning in a telephone interview Wednesday night.
Saipan MOC, which topped the 1,000m preliminaries with a time of 5:43, took third place honors, clocking in at 5:45.8 in the finals behind AT Melgot (5:42.6) and Taotao Galaide 1 (5:44.7). They finished fourth in the 500m finals (2:45.9) 0.6 tenths of a second after third placers Yap (2:45.3). Guam’s Taotao Galaide 1 (2:38.7) ruled the event, while Guatdan Tasi ended up two seconds behind (2:40.7).
Saipan MOC then placed sixth overall out of 11 teams in the finals of the 12-mile race, crossing the finish line at 1:54:58.5. Taotao Galaide 1 topped the event (1:52:21.8), while Hong Kong United (1:53:09.1) and Guatdan Tasi (1:53:36.9) ended up second and third, respectively.
“We’re happy with our performance since we didn’t expect it. We’re just a new club and it was formed for the purpose of this competition. Somehow, we overachieved,” added Manning, who moved to Saipan from San Diego.
Manning said Saipan MOC trains three times a week in the waters off the Civic Center Beach but after competing in Guam the team will take a break.
“We do sprints during weekdays after work and long distance every weekend. We paddle long distances and in between we also cross train,” said Manning, who is joined on the team by Joe Ayuyu, Steven Beyer, Bobby Cruz, Darrel Gallardo, Jack Kabiriel, James Lee, Shawn Manglona, and Eric McDuff.
In other results, Saipan junior boys’ team Holokahi swept all three events: 500m (2:46.1), 1,000m (6:16.3) and 6-mile (30:34.5), while Saipan PC placed second in the 500m (2:53.9) and 1,000m (6:18.7), and third in the 6-mile race (3:55.0). (Jon Perez)
