The Sports Leigh-Out Oct. 10-16, 2026

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.

HMS reclaims boys basketball title

The perpetual trophy of the PSS-NMIBF Boys Middle School Basketball League is back with the Hilitais of Hopwood Middle School after they defeated Francisco M. Sablan Middle School Napu Riders, 38-30, ending FMS’ two-year championship streak on Saturday, Oct. 10, at the Marianas High School Gymnasium.

It was a back-and-forth game with both teams sinking their shots, but HMS began to pull away towards the end of the first half. HMS coupled their offense with defense, putting up blocks and causing turnovers that they then capitalized for baskets. By the end of the first half, HMS led, 16-12, with Salman Kamal leading the team with six markers.

In the second half, FMS made a push and came out more aggressively—and in no time, turned the lead in their favor, 28-24. However, Kamal fouled out and it was up to the rest of the HMS squad to make the plays.

From there, HMS went on a shooting spree and retook the lead, 31-28, with 3:45 on the clock. FMS finally made a basket to get within one, 30-31 at 1:44 left. But, HMS went on another hot streak and scored eight straight points with the help of Jeno Pino, Sam Taguiam, DK Pino, and Reyong Rasiang. When the final buzzer sounded, the final score was 38-30.

Jeno Pino led HMS with 15 points, while Salman Kamal scored 10.

Third place went to Dandan Middle School as they beat Chacha Oceanview Middle School, 27-24.

Read the full story on our website.

DC Classic: 15 years and a sweep

The iconic annual Dee Clayton Classic and Northern Marianas Bodybuilding Federation competition turned 15 and fittingly had 15 competitors on Saturday, Oct. 10, at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium.

In front of an electric crowd during a night full of dance performances, tanned skin, and flexed muscles, competitors across multiple categories shone brightly under the stage lights, with Shawn Fleming stealing the show with a sweep of the Bodybuilding, Men’s Physique, and Classic Physique.

The bodybuilding veteran has now competed in four DC Classic competitions, and one bodybuilding competition in Guam last year.

After the event, he said, “First off, I’m really relieved that it’s over, because I’m really hungry and thirsty. But overall, I had fun and I’m just so overwhelmed with the result and how everything turned out, and also that my routine went well.”

His preparation, he said, included working out six days a week, as it is his lifestyle. “I don’t even think of it as training, but when it came to cutting for bodybuilding, I was prepping from January to April originally when it was set for June, but because of the typhoon, I stopped and wanted to focus more on my friends and family. Once I found out that this got moved to October, then I started to prep again. This comp, I started since typhoon Bavi.”

For NMBF president and DC Classic founder Dee Clayton, celebrating 15 years of the competition is a big accomplishment. “It’s a big accomplishment. It’s great for me because the community and the people, they support this event. That's why it’s very successful.” She added, “This is a passion. And I like it because I love what I’m doing, and not only that I love what I’m doing, but I’m introducing it to our future generations, our kids, and everybody.”

With the turnout, she said, “I’m very satisfied. It’s a very well supported event. Our people, the community, our government and private sector really supported me and the event.”

Future plans include maybe bringing the competition to Rota and Tinian.

Read the full story on our website.

Clean sweep for SIS in x-country champs

No one came out of the PSS-NMA All Schools Cross Country championships unscathed as muddy shoes of the top runners this 2026-2027 season splashed through puddles and wet grass, but Saipan International School registered a clean sweep of both high school divisions on Saturday, Oct. 10, at the CPA Airport Field.

In cross country, teams earn points based on where their runners finish, so the team with the lowest total wins, just like in golf where the player with the lowest score wins.

SIS won both the boys and girls team titles in the high school division (5K) as the SIS boys won with 20 points, followed by Marianas High School in second with 24, and Agape Christian School with 42.

In the boys race, SIS swept the field with Landen Taflinger in first place at just under 19 minutes with 18:59.19. Teammates Quido Jambor came in second at 19:52.33, and Victor Neil Santos placed third with 20:01.74.

In the girls division, SIS also won the team title with 23, followed by MHS at 27, and ACS in third with 31 points. Addalee Taflinger finished first overall with a time of 23:55.89. Sablina Shen of ACS finished second in 24:27.09, while Dainna Yu Zheng of Grace Christian Academy placed third in 25:29.52.

Landen, who is a graduating senior said of sweeping the season, “It feels great. I tried to get a lot faster by the end of the season, training very hard, but ended up not getting a PR, which is okay, but yeah, a lot more experience I’ve gained. I’ll learn from my mistakes and stuff.”

With this cross country season using the Airport field three times, Landen said that it was easier to compare his times. But he said, “I do like the different types of courses because it’s more fun with the differences and stuff.”

As for Addalee, she said, “My season went well. This season I trained a lot more and I put in more miles. And I also wanted to get a PR but I didn’t, but I think I’m at a good spot, just keep training, and I’ll be able to get a PR soon in another race.”

Read the full story by Leigh Gases.

NSA breaks ground on Capital Hill Field

The Natibu Sports Association broke ground for improvement projects on the Capital Hill Ballfield on Oct. 9. It was attended by NSA members, NSA Braves baseball players, families, along with legislators including Rep. Joel Camacho, Rep. Malcolm Omar, Rep. JP Sablan, and House Speaker Edmund Villagomez. Parks and Recreation Director Mike Cruz gave the opening remarks, while NSA president Ian Norita gave the closing remarks.

GZK Pacific wins Kanto Cup title in Japan

NMI players joined a softball team in Japan, GZK Pacific, and won the championship of the 2026 Kanto Cup Tournament held from Oct. 9-12.

GZK Pacific beat American Legion, 6-4. The players from the CNMI that flew out included national softball team players Regene Palacios, Trina Palacios, Kiana Camacho, Christy Aldan, Ashley Angui, and Jen Dela Cruz.

NMI U17 team wraps up Asian Cup qualifiers bid

The NMI U17 National Women’s Soccer Team wrapped up their bid at the AFC U17 Women’s Asian Cup 2027 Qualifiers in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, from Oct. 5-11.

They first went up against Kyrgyz Republic on Oct. 5, and they lost, 0-18; fell to host Vietnam on Oct. 8, 0-20; and finally lost to Palestine, 0-8 on Oct. 11,

NMI Badminton’s Christy Villaflor is line judge at BWF Jr. World Champs in Egypt

NMI Badminton Association’s General Secretary, Christy Villaflor is up at the international stage as one of the line judges at the Badminton World Federation World Junior Championships 2026, in Cairo, Egypt. The championships are from Oct. 5-17, with the team championships held on Oct. 5-10, and the individual championships from Oct. 11-17.

NMI tennis players join World Tennis Development camp in Guam

It’s a whole week of tennis development on neighboring Guam as the Guam National Tennis Federation hosts the World Tennis Regional Development Camp U12 & U14, led by Dr. Pairin Panjasilpa—World Tennis/ITF Regional Development Officer for the Pacific Oceania region, from Oct. 12-17, at the Guam National Tennis Center.

Listen to CNMI tennis players Isaiah Arriola-Mook, Tim Weston, Fiona Yu, and Aileen Kim share their goals and experiences at the camp, along with Dr. Pairin Panjasilpa on the objectives of the camp that’s hosting 18 players from Guam, CNMI, and Palau.

Team F.A.T. wins CGC Sober-ball Tournament

No alcohol and drugs were allowed, but hits and runs were plentiful during the Community Guidance Center 2026 Prevention & Recovery Awareness Months Sober-ball Tournament that wrapped up on Monday, Oct. 12, at the Miguel “Tan Ge” Pangelinan Softball Field.

It was a softball-filled weekend, with the tourney only slated for Saturday, Oct. 10, to Sunday, Oct. 11, but the hits and runs kept on coming which pushed the championship game to Monday morning. Team F.A.T. forced a final championship game after they won the first, and eventually claimed the title with a decisive 15-1 final score over Team Basta Hit.

Herbert Sablan, Clinical Supervisor for CHCC CGC’s Community Outreach and Response Services and Addiction Services Unit said that the softball tourney is one activity during the Prevention & Recovery Awareness Months in September and October. “One of the highlights is that we have peer-led softball teams alongside community members,” he said. The tourney had eight teams overall.

“We have this every year where we try to incorporate in our community, alongside our stakeholder partnerships, activities that are sober—drug free, alcohol free. Like today, no one has it in their coolers, so it’s a very healthy and supportive program for our youth and families,” said Sablan.

Amanda Cruz, a counselor at the Addiction Services Unit, for her part said, “we want to encourage and promote prevention and recovery in our community and to let people know, especially those in recovery that we can still have fun. We can still engage in community events, and community activities doing it sober, and our community can join us in these efforts and do it sober.”

The turnout for the event, Cruz said, was great. “A lot of spectators came out and joined us. Team players were with their family and friends too so it was really, really great.”

Sablan then said that there are still a lot of individuals in active recovery, but even with stressors including typhoons and economic stressors, he said it’s still possible for the community to come together to where, “We can rise above the difficulties. One way that we can reinforce our family and community connections is through activities like this.”