Previous Story
Zarinae off to London next month
Zarinae Sapong, left, is hoping to improve her personal best times when she sees action in the World Athletics Championship in London next month. (Contributed Photo)
Reigning Micronesian sprint queen Zarinae Sapong will be the lone representative from the CNMI in next month’s World Championship in Athletics in London, the United Kingdom.
The 16th edition of the biennial games will be held at the London Olympic Stadium at Marshgate Lane from Aug. 4 to 13.
Northern Marianas Athletics development officer Elias Rangamar said he’s been training Sapong on a schedule that they worked on since the latter also balances her studies at the Northern Marianas College and two jobs.
“She’s committed to training and improving her time. That’s what I like with her. And she’s been consistent. She’s always on time for our 5am sessions, it shows that she’s dedicated to her goals,” Rangamar told Saipan Tribune.
“We’re working on a schedule since she’s working and at the same time studying. We’re ding time trials and we’re working on improving her techniques,” added Rangamar.
Sapong is the reigning 100- and 200-meter sprints gold medalist, topping both events in last year’s Micronesian Athletics Championships hosted by Pohnpei State of the Federated States of Micronesia.
Sapong collected two of the CNMI’s three gold medals in the fifth edition of the MAC in Kolonia, Pohnpei.
She ruled the 100m with a 13.35 PBT then set a championship record in the 200m run by posting a time of 27.87 seconds. She also anchored the CNMI women’s 4x100m and 4x400m relay teams to bronze medal finishes.
Sapong’s times in the Pohnpei MAC was a huge improvement from the records she posted in the 2015 Oceania Athletics Association Area Championships in Cairns, Australia. She finished 13th in the 100m and 200m runs with times of 13.91 and 28.97 seconds each.
“Our main goal is to improve her personal best times and we’re using the World Championships to prepare her for next year’s Micronesian Area Championships and the 2018 Micronesian Games in Yap State,” said Ragamar.
“We’re also going to use the World Championships to scout our competitors from the Micronesian region. We know Guam and Nauru would also send runners in London,” he added.
