The Sports Leigh-Out Dec. 20-26

Hafa Adai and Tirow sports fans, this is Leigh Gases with this week’s Sports Leigh-Out brought to you by Joeten Motors!

Let’s take a closer look at what our athletes have been up to in off-island competitions and on their home turf—whether it’s on the pitch, mat, courts, fields, track, pools, or the beautiful ocean.

Multiple records, podium finishes for swimmers Down Under

The young NMI swim team made up of Maria Batallones, Piper Raho, Kouki Watanabe, Justin Ma, Matthew Szefler, and Michael Miller showed depth with two podium finishes and several national and personal records broken during their stint in the 2025-2026 New South Wales Senior State Age Championships from Dec. 13 to Dec. 19 at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre in Sydney, Australia. The team also took part in the Oceania Aquatics Competition Development Camp held concurrently.

Batallones led NMI on the podium, earning two bronze medals in breaststroke events. She finished third in the 100m breaststroke with a time of 1:16.60, setting a new NMI record, then followed it up later in the meet with another national record and bronze in the 50m breaststroke at 34.21. Batallones also broke the long-standing NMI record in the 200m breaststroke, touching in 2:52.47.

Raho also continued her run of record-breaking swims throughout the championships. She lowered her own national record in the 50m freestyle twice, first swimming 28.00 before resetting it again at 27.73. She also set new NMI records in the 100m backstroke with a time of 1:09.29, the 50m butterfly at 29.65, and closed the meet by breaking the 50m backstroke record with a 31.64.

Watanabe added another national record to the tally in the men’s 50m breaststroke, swimming 31.10 to break a mark that had stood since 2011. He also reached the finals in the 100m breaststroke with a time of 1:08.94 and posted a 2:34.51 in the 200m breaststroke.

For Miller, he set a new NMI age-group record in the 50m butterfly with a time of 27.39, and swam personal bests of 25.22 in the 50m freestyle and 1:02.97 in the 100m butterfly.

Szefler turned in several personal bests during the championships, including a 1:04.24 in the 100m butterfly and a 1:10.49 in the 100m backstroke. He also clocked a 28.76 in the 50m butterfly late in the meet.

Ma also showed improvement, swimming personal bests in both sprint freestyle events. He finished the 50m freestyle in 25.72 and later posted a 56.34 in the 100m freestyle.

CNMI lifters bag medals in Guam; Cristobal is best overall lifter

Four veteran weightlifters—Raymond Santos, Leowell Cristobal, Leonardo Apelo, and David Barnhouse, competed and bagged multiple medals in the 2025 Guam Weightlifting Federation Open Invitational Championships on Saturday, Dec. 20.

They went up against 27 other lifters from Guam and Palau, with Cristobal bagging the best overall lifter award. The airman, at 67.55-kg, earned gold medals in the 71-kg Open weight category, Military category, and Best Overall (Sinclar) with a 102-kg/224.91-lb snatch, and 145-kg/319.73-lb clean & jerk, for a total of 247-kg/544.64-lb.

In the men's 60-kg weight category, Santos grabbed the gold medal with a snatch of 90-kg/198.45-lbs and a clean & jerk of 110-kg/242.55-lbs, for a total of 200-kg/441-lb.

Apelo took home the bronze in the 88-kg weight category and silver in the Master’s Division with a 116-kg/255.78-lb snatch and 140-kg/308.7-lb clean and jerk, for a total of 246-kg/542.43-lb.

Barnhouse won the gold in the +110 or “Supers” category with a 100-kg/220.5-lb snatch and 140-kg/308.7-lb clean and jerk for a total of 240-kg/529.2-lbs.

According to CNMI Weightlifting, “This is the third year in a row that these Micronesian sports entities have met in weightlifting competition on Guam. The event seems to have gained the attention of the Oceania Weightlifting Federation. This year, observers, and behind the scenes workers from the Republic of the Marshall Islands were also in attendance.”

For 2026, CNMI Weightlifting is hosting a weightlifting competition at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium on Saturday, February 21, 2026, with more details to follow. The federation is also looking for new weightlifters to represent the NMI in competition, with age, weightlifting, or sports experience not a factor. For more information, contact CNMI Weightlifting at cnmiweightlifting@gmail.com

Déjà vu: TMS wins fastpitch title over HMS, 19-8

It was déjà vu all over again as the Tanapag Middle School Tatagas and Hopwood Middle School Hilitais faced off in the boys softball finals for the third year in a row. This season, the Tatagas splashed a convincing 19-8 final to capture the 2025-2026 PSS-NMISA Boys Fastpitch Softball League championship for a 3-peat on a blazing hot Saturday at Dandan Softball Field.

Perfect in the postseason, the boys from the northside went into the championship round refreshed with the top seed, while No. 2 HMS was exhausted from a whole morning’s battle from the loser’s bracket.

Both teams were at a deadlock in the first two innings, but things began to unravel and fatigue showed in HMS’ squad in the third. Inside-the-park home runs and capitalizing on walks were the name of the game for the Tatagas as HMS pitcher Joshua Lizama struggled with control.

Back-to-back hits put Tatagas in scoring position, driven in by inside-the-park homers by Aiden Lizama and Omar Ibarola. At the end of their at-bat, TMS was up, 9-0. It was HMS’ turn at the plate and finally got on board with runs scored by Jeno Pino and Traevon Manglona. The Hilitais were making a comeback as they scored three runs in the fourth from a bases clearing triple by Kaizaeah Remoket for a 5-9 game.

However, HMS was tired on the mound and allowed more runs to cross in the fifth. TMS broke the game wide open with back-to-back inside-the-park homers from Aiden Lizama and Kayden Lizama and free bases from walks continued to plague HMS. Ibarola also swung for his second inside-the-parker with Andrew Magofna joining the fun with another inside-the-park homer.

TMS scored 10 runs in the inning and with a 10-run inning rule, it was time to switch. HMS needed to score five runs to continue the game, but even with a late rally, they only managed to put up three runs from Ezekiel Camacho, KC William, and Xavier Nepaial, for an 8-19 final.

3-peat for Lady Rays in basketball

‘Tis really is the season to be jolly as Saipan Southern High School Lady Manta Rays clinched their third championship in a row in the PSS-NMIBF-IT&E Girls High School Basketball League. In this 2025-2026 season, they went through undefeated and beat rival Marianas High School Lady Dolphins in a 34-17 masterclass final on Friday at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium.

The Lady Rays basically ended the season how they started it—dominant and undefeated. Coasting through the season as the top team, the Manta Rays continued to ride the wave of their teamwork, chemistry, and skill over every team, eventually facing MHS once again.

Aiyanah Fatialofa opened the game with a bucket, then gave way to older sister Azzy, who went on a shooting spree and converted 10 straight points. SSHS put lock and key on both the ball and the game, and it was Jahsmin Ramon’s turn to shine with five consecutive markers of her own.

The Lady Rays continued to let it rain buckets as they scored seven more points, while MHS found only two by way of free throws for a 24-2 first-half lead. The second half was more of the same, but it got physical, and the Lady Dolphins made multiple trips to the free-throw line. They struggled to keep up with SSHS’ impenetrable defense, but managed to keep their offense to a minimum compared to the first half. However, MHS’ struggles with the ball didn’t let up, and just as Aiyanah started the game, she ended it with a final shot for a 34-17 final.

Azzy led the way with 13 points, while Ramon contributed 9. For MHS, Stacy Arriola and Valerie Estella put up twin numbers at five a-piece.

With the Fatialofa sisters and Ramon were Rosie Saralu, Teneasha Diaz, Patricia Matsumoto, Kalia Mendiola, Phoenix Gross, Billie Pangelinan, Maria Quipid, Mikaenna Nishimura, Alexis Taitingfong, Oren Sasamoto, Beatrice Gross, and Althea Bocago.

Santos is RGA Ace of Aces

The Refaluwasch Golf Association NMI Inc. wrapped up its 2025 season with its annual Ace of Aces tournament at the East and West Course of the LaoLao Bay Golf & Resort on Dec. 20-21 where Franco Santos came out on top of the year’s monthly winners.

Santos earned his spot in the field after winning the June Ace of the Month and carried that form into the two-day tournament. He opened with a net 71 on Saturday, then followed with a net 75 on Sunday to finish with a two-day total of 146 to be named the Ace of Aces.

The Ace of Aces tournament brings together the 12 RGA Ace of the Month winners to close out the 2025 season, and this year’s field featured a mix of familiar faces and newer contenders.

Jesse Stole, the October Ace, finished close behind Santos with a net total of 149, highlighted by a tournament-low net round of 70. September Ace Louie Tilipao placed third with a steady two-day total of 152. December Ace Zhiyun Li finished at 153, followed by February Ace Harry Nakamura (157), August Ace Kaegel Taitano (161), January Ace Ben Pelisamen (166), and November Ace Rudy Babauta (169). The remaining Ace of the Month winners in the field were Joseph Sasamoto (March), Patrick Fitial (April), Pali Balajadia (May), and Carl Hocog (July).

Several members were also recognized for their performances in optional plays throughout the season. Manny Mangarero, Joe “Kamikaze” Camacho, and Sasamoto logged the most rounds played with 21 each. Balajadia posted the lowest net score of the season at 63, while Li recorded the lowest gross score with a 68. Pelisamen was named most improved after cutting seven strokes off his game.

In addition, Stole recorded a hole-in-one on hole No. 3 of the West Course on June 7, 2025, knocking it in from 165 yards.

RGA NMI also announced its newly elected board of directors for 2026:

President: Ben Pelisamen

Vice President: Kaegel Taitano

Secretary: Harry Nakamura

Treasurer: Franco Santos

Tournament Director: Joseph Sasamoto

Tournament Scoring Director: Tony Satur

Marketing Director: Zhiyun Li