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Team JFK wins relay race
Cody Shimizu crosses the finish line which gave Team JFK first place in the sprint triathlon relay last Saturday at Paupau Beach for the 50th Anniversary celebration of Tan Holdings. (LEIGH GASES )
In the team relay category of the Tan Holdings 50th Anniversary sprint triathlon celebration last Saturday at Paupau Beach, Team JFK came out and dominated the course.
Team JFK consisted of Kaithlyn Chavez as the swimmer in the swim portion, Fred Remillosa as the biker in the bike split, and Cody Shimizu as the runner in the running portion with their team coming in at 1:12:25.
The second team to come in was 99 Problems But Winning Ain’t One with a time of 1:20:37. The team was made up of Natalia Gvan in the swimming portion, Renren Gaviola in the biking split, and Sildrey Veloria in the running portion.
Third place at 1:20:57 was team Lions & Hot Chick, and its members were Julia Aleksenko for swimming, Willy Barbo on the bike, and J.R. Barrios on the run.
The course started with a 750m swim from Paupau Beach, which transitioned to a 20K bike race from Paupau to the dumping area in Marpi then back, and finally, a 5K run from Paupau to FEBTC, just past the former Kan Pacific Swimming Pool and back.
After their first place win, Team JFK members were gathered together for an interview and by the looks on their faces, they were tired, but happy and Remillosa, a veteran biker, said just that.
“I’m happy for my team… for an event like this, it’s my first first place win.” Remillosa won third place in the first Tan Holdings’ celebration last week which was the bike race.
Chavez, a student at Saipan International School, said that the event was “a good one.” She said the water “felt good… [the current] wasn’t that strong today so it was an easier swim… I just swam and did my part.”
Shimizu, a student from Marianas High School, said that he was “excited to see the people here cheering me, so I had to try my best.” Shimizu said that he plays soccer and tennis and that he only runs “for events. If there’s an event I just try to join everything.
He then thanked his “family and the Chavez family since they invited me to this event and made me their runner.”
After the team and individual triathlon, the kids had their fun with their own triathlon as well, which will come out in tomorrow’s issue of Saipan Tribune.
