TRAC to stage 2nd Mini Games tryouts Saturday

Kaithlyn Chavez, left, and Isaiah Aleksenko tackle the 5-kilometer run split from Paupau Beach to the road leading to Far East Broadcasting Co. of last Aug. 21’s Mini Games tryout. (MARK RABAGO)

The Triathlon Association of the CNMI will hold its second tryout for the CNMI National Triathlon Team for next year’s Northern Marianas Pacific Mini Games this coming Saturday, Dec. 4, in Marpi.

The 750-meter swim 20-kilometer bike, and 5-km run course will start with the swim split at Paupau Beach. It will be followed by the road bike segment that begins from Paupau Beach before proceeding south to Seafix Inc. for the turnaround and then north onto Banzai Cliff before returning to the finish line at Paupau Beach. The 3.1-mile run will be from Paupau Beach to the road leading to Far East Broadcasting Co. and back to the finish line.

The tryout, which was originally set last Nov. 28 but was cancelled due to the rise in COVID-19 cases in the community, will have body markings at 6am.

Requirements for athletes trying out for the CNMI National Triathlon Team is five years of continuous or cumulative residency in the Northern Marianas and must be a U.S. citizen. TRAC added that athletes may participate by joining sanctioned races with the same swim, bike, and run splits elsewhere and submitting official results.

TRAC held its first Mini Games tryout last Aug. 21 at the same venue with Lily Muldoon and Christian Villacrusis topping the event.

Muldoon, a 42-year-old doctor at the Commonwealth Health Center, tackled the course in 1:14.49 to win the women’s division, while Villacrusis, who is now back at George Fox University in Oregon for college, topped the men’s category in 1:18.33.

Saipan International School’s Kaithlyn Chavez came in second to Muldoon in the women’s category after the multi-sport wunderkind crossed the finish line in 1:22.48. Tania Tan, a member of the Fordham University track and field team, rounded out the women’s Top 3 with a time of 1:23.16.

Swimming Center Tsunami Saipan member Isaiah Aleksenko was second in the men’s division with a time of 1:22.46 but what’s impressive was the 15-year-old Marianas High School student did so with an ill-fitting road bike and just socks to negotiate the 5-km stretch of asphalt and concrete in the run split.

MHS teacher and former Saipan Swim Club coach Jacoby Winkfield finished third among men with a time of 1:31.17. A total of nine women and eight men took part in the tryouts.

The Northern Marianas Pacific Mini Games 2022 will be held from June 17 to 25, 2022. So far, a total of 53 athletes have signed up for the triathlon competition which will be held at the he Marina Harbor on Rota.

For more information on this Saturday’s Mini Games tryout, email swimbikerun.saipan@gmail.com. Registration can be accessed via https://www.webscorer.com/register? raceid=261382&fbclid=IwAR3ccNjT4SU6i_jLYDsQkVklWp5Xg3mqrkrLGJ1dnmELUygaJN3rFabH7j4.