The Sports Leigh-Out: January 24-30

Hafa Adai yan Tirow sports fans, this is Leigh Gases bringing you Marianas Press’ weekly wrap up—the Sports Leigh-Out for the week of January 24-30.

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, or the beautiful ocean.

3rd quarter ISL sports begins

PSS Athletics Program SY 2024-2025 started the 3rd quarter of sports with a bang last week with boys middle school volleyball, and co-ed high school va’a/badminton. Today, co-ed elementary volleyball and boys high school basketball starts, while girls middle school softball begins tomorrow.

In boys volleyball, Francisco M. Sablan Middle School Napu Riders and Saipan International School Geckos currently lead with two wins each. Meanwhile, defending champions Agape Christian School Torchbearers, Grace Christian Academy Eagles, Tanapag Middle School, and Hopwood Middle School have one win each.

Over in the ocean, Mount Carmel School Knights debuted in the PSS Athletics Program’s va’a competition in the season’s opening day last Saturday.

There were no points on the first day of races, but times were kept to determine each team’s placements. Points will be counted in their next races tomorrow.

In the girls 500m division, MCS came in first, while Kagman High School was second. Third went to Marianas High School, and Saipan Southern High School settled for fourth.

MHS paddled to first in the girls 1,500m race, while KHS came in second. MCS bagged third place and SSHS was fourth.

As for the boys 500m, the Ayuyus reigned supreme, while second went to MHS. MCS was third and SSHS came in fourth. In the boys 1,000m, KHS finished first, while SSHS was second. MCS and MHS were disqualified.

And in the mixed 500m race, SSHS finally bagged a first place finish, while MHS came in second. MCS was third, while KHS was disqualified. MHS then triumphed in the mixed 1,000m with a first place finish, and SSHS came in second, and MCS settled for third. KHS was disqualified.

Marpac-Budweiser is king of the court

Marpac reigned over Priority Care, 111-84 in their championship showdown to crown themselves the king of the 2nd Annual R&J Wine and Liquor Inter Gov’t/Business League at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium last Saturday.

Marpac’s Chioni Dela Cruz, like in the regular season, lived in three-point territory, scoring from there six times. He also converted field goals that added to his total and in the end led the team with 37 points. With that, he was named the finals’ Most Valuable Player.

He was assisted by Coby Santos who contributed 29 points himself, while Greg Sablan was not far behind with 27 markers. As for Priority Care, their offense was held at bay, with King scoring 29 points, and Rabauliman putting up 24, while the rest of the team managed only single digit contributions.

Marpac was made up of Dela Cruz, Santos, Sablan, Jeff Castro, James Lee, Henry Sablan, Ricky Riungel, Frank Mettao, Bobby Castro, John Diaz, Mac Goaliem, and Tom Basa, and were coached by Rep. Elias Rangamar.

Colin Ramsey is men’s 5.0 singles champ

Colin Ramsey put his best foot forward and took the title of the men’s 5.0 singles over Tomas Abel in the adult division and last week of the 2025 SIS Student Council Tennis Tournament last Saturday at the American Memorial Park tennis courts.

Ramsey and Abel were in a heated battle throughout as Abel forced a third and final set. Ramsey, ranked No. 2 in the tourney, breezed past top seed Abel in the first, 6-1. Abel pivoted and regrouped to narrowly clinched the second, 7-6. In the deciding third, it was a heated back-and-forth matchup as the sun blazed overhead, but Ramsey won it all after a 10-7 final.

In the men’s 4.0 singles, Nathan Mook claimed first place over runner-up Daniel Kang. John Bradley was the champion in the men’s 3.0 singles after he beat Joel Fernandez.

As for the women’s 5.0 singles, Mayuko Arriola overpowered Amy Park for the title. In the mixed up 5.0 doubles, Siwoo Lee and Irin Chung bested June Yu and Jieun Kwon. And in the mixed up 4.0 doubles, Daniel Kang partnered with Amy Park to claim the championship over Cody Park and Jenna Pascual.