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Sitchon named TRAC president
Manny Sitchon, fourth from the right, poses for a photo following his election as the new Triathlon Association of the CNMI president last Saturday. He is joined in the photo by Northern Marianas Sports Association executive secretary Carlene Sablan and other officers and members of TRAC at the NMSA office inside the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium. (Kimberly A. Bautista)
Former Triathlon Association of the CNMI vice president Manny Sitchon was elected the organization’s new president just in time for the preparations of the upcoming 2022 Pacific Mini Games that will be held in the CNMI.
During the TRAC general membership meeting last Saturday, Sitchon said he is excited to head the organization that he has vested so much of his time and heart in.
“I am excited about it because I was one of the members of the original triathlon organizing group. Initially I was just a board member then moved up to vice president before I became president,” he said.
Sitchon said that although TRAC has many projects in store one in particular stands out—the upcoming 2022 Pacific Mini Games.
“We are excited about our upcoming projects especially next year when the CNMI hosts the Pacific Mini Games. We are already coordinating with the committee from New Zealand. We had a Zoom meeting last week where we discussed the route we are going to take and we already gave them two options,” he said.
Sitchon said the proposed routes include a route starting at the Pau Pau Beach where the organization holds its annual Saipan Aquathlon and the second route is on Beach Road where they host the Tagaman Triathlon.
Fortunately, Sitchon said aside from the organization having more than enough experience in hosting events triathlon events, the 2022 Pacific Mini Games will be more manageable than Tagaman given the requirement of having it in a more closed area instead of a large-scale area like they are used to.
“The Pacific Mini Games organizing committee is encouraging us to compress it, put it in a closed manageable area and we are going to listen to their requirements,” he said.
Aside from Sitchon, other officers elected include Ronald Villafria as vice president, Jojo Valencia as treasurer, Ambet Omampo as secretary, Ricky Castro as secretary general, and Florence Antonio and Jay Diyco as board members.
They were all were sworn in at the Northern Marianas Sports Association office inside the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium in the presence of NMSA executive secretary Carlene Sablan.
