Women lifters excel in Guam tourney

The CNMI’s Antonette Labausa successfully lifts a personal best of 77kg in the snatch portion of the Guam Open National Championships 2023 last Saturday in Barrigada, Guam.(CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)

And she lifted happily ever after.

That’s what CNMI’s women lifters did after they topped their respective divisions in the Guam Open National Championships 2023 held last Saturday at the Guam National Guard Center in Barrigada, Guam.

However, the job of being a strong woman doesn’t stop there as they set their sights for more international competitions on the horizon—the 2023 Micronesian Games and the 2023 Pacific Games.

Antonette Labausa topped the open 81-kg division; Riella Ichiou placed second in the 81-kg division; Kaya Rasa placed third in the youth 59-kg weight class, fourth in the junior 59kg, and fifth in the 59-kg open division; Pipit Ball placed third in the 59-kg open weight class; and Devine Pua snagged sixth place in the 59-kg division.

CNMI weightlifters pose for a photo with Guam and Palau weightlifters after the Guam Open National Championships 2023 last Saturday in Barrigada, Guam.(CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)

Ball improved her total weight lifted from the 2022 Northern Marianas Pacific Games from 107kg to 118kg and Ichiuo went from 131kg to 150kg.  

Labausa went up against Ichiuo and Palau’s Claire Kintoki and had an overall weight lifted of 173kg. Her best snatch was 77kg and her best clean & jerk was 96kg. 

The 28-year-old last competed in Guam in March 2022 and said that “this past weekend’s competition was a good but challenging competition as I was trying to push myself but always kept reminding myself to have fun. It was also nice to have a big presence of CNMI weightlifting there. Last year it was only me and Joey Tudela who ended up competing in March.”

She said that going up against Ichiuo was fun and that it’s awesome to see her improvements since the NMPMG. “She won a well deserved silver and I am happy for her. She’s catching up to me,” said Labausa.

Antonette Labausa, center, wins gold in the 81-kg weight class, Riella Ichiuo, left, is second place, and Palau’s Claire Kintori is third in the Guam Open National Championships 2023 last Saturday. (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)

As for her own performance, Labausa said that she felt good with her snatch lifts. “I have been dealing with right knee pain for a while but I was glad it held up to attempt competition PRs again. I broke my competition snatch record by 1kg and I tried to do 100kg for my clean & jerk but I ended up missing the jerk. I was disappointed as it seems to always be so elusive for me but I am happy to hit my consistent 173kg [total weight] in the 81kg class on a day where I didn’t feel the greatest physically.”

After the competition, she said that she felt happy about her first-place win. She will take a 10-day active rest time to give her knee a rest then continue her training for the Micro/Pacific Games. She said is ready to do her best at both games and that she will really have to work on her weaknesses in the clean & jerk when she gets back to training.
Labausa
will not compete in the last qualifier this month but will be coaching the newer athletes who want to compete.

Coach to Rasa and Pua, she said “I’m proud of Kaya and Devine for doing their second competition, they both broke their previous personal competition snatch, clean & jerk, and total. I’m excited to see how they progress with more training time. They just started in August 2022.”

Labausa then thanked the CNMI Weightlifting Federation, Northern Marianas Sports Association, and Guam Weightlifting for putting on a great meet. She then said “great job to my teammates this past weekend.”

Rasa claimed third in the youth division after she lifted a total weight of 102kg, with a best snatch lift of 43kg and a best clean & jerk lift of 59kg. In the junior category, she finished fourth and replicated her lift numbers in the youth division. In the women’s open division, she also had the same numbers in her lifts and claimed fifth place.

For the 17-year-old lifter of just six months, Rasa said she was nervous in her first international competition. “It felt like a new atmosphere. I observed a lot of competitors and learned a lot. I can’t wait for more international competitions.”

Going up against Guam and Palau lifters for the first time, she felt intimidated because of how experienced everyone was. “I was the second one to go up on stage however I was also the first to fail my second snatch out of all the competitors. However, I wasn’t the only one throughout the competition and it taught me that anything can happen. You can fail or succeed—it all depends on if you want to keep going and that’s what myself and everyone else did. Overall, everyone was having a great time,” said Rasa.

As her second competition overall, she said she wasn’t as nervous as her first competition last January, but that she definitely felt tense. Even with that, Rasa broke two competition personal bests for the snatch and clean & jerk. 

Rasa said that even if she doesn’t make the cut for the national team, she said that it won’t stop her from continuing the sport of Olympic weightlifting. She then thanked her coach Labausa and teammate Pua “for the opportunity to compete and expose us to the world of weightlifting.”

CNMI Weightlifting Federation president John Davis said, “Overall the CNMI did well. We had eight lifters (including three youth and one junior lifters) who had never before competed in an international format. They all did very well, each of them winning gold in the respective age divisions. Our veteran lifters continue to improve. The senior lifters will continue to train for the Micronesian Games and Pacific Games.”

As for what’s next, he said “We will start some fundraisers and other activities in hopes of raising funds to send our youth and junior athletes to compete in the Oceania Junior/Youth/U23 Championships in Rarotonga, Cook Islands in August 2023.”