The Sports Leigh-Out Oct. 17-23, 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.

Back-to-back for Lady Dolphins in v-ball

The Marianas High School Lady Dolphins swam their way to a repeat title of the PSS-NMIVA Girls High School Volleyball League after they beat Grace Christian Academy Lady Eagles in straight sets this 2026-2027 season, 21-14, 21-18, in front of their home crowd on Thursday, Oct. 8.

Climbing through the ranks in the playoffs, the Lady Dolphins came out unscathed despite a rocky regular season. On the last day of the playoffs, they first defeated MCS, 21-18, 21-8; then beat Saipan International School, 21-7, 21-11; and finally, after a break, they faced off against GCA in the finals.

GCA, who defeated MHS in the regular season, came out strong with well placed hits and strong serves. But, the Lady Dolphins created less errors and moved as one, having more chemistry than they did in the beginning of the season. The first set was a quick one in favor of MHS, 21-14.

The second set had more battles at the net and it was a tight one in the beginning. MHS’ defense at the back stood their ground though, digging and bumping as much as they could. GCA was their own worst enemy, with errors on the returns, until eventually MHS sealed the deal, 21-18.

The MHS team included Erika Zandueta, Ella Hall, Lina Tsukagoshi, Hiromi Sasamoto, Rhodalyn Zandueta, Jana Agbuya, Emma Sablan, Genicia Agulto, Mia Guerrero, Dana Munar, Kylie Leomo, Mary Joyce Anover, Czarina Valdez, Maya Taga, and Mailee Santos.

GCA’s roster consisted of Anne Arriola, Venice Camaisa, Maria Sofia Gomez, Liyanna Libut, Breanna Lopez, Misako Ota, Eliane Pagaduan, Princess Siapno, Joanella Yarofalir, and Yu Xuan (Breanna) Zheng.

Read more on our website.

Redemption for Kobler in co-ed soccer

It was a hot finals game on a cool Wednesday (Oct. 21) night as Koblerville Elementary School Umangs 1 redeemed themselves with the title of the 2026-2027 PSS-NMIFA Co-Ed Elementary School Soccer League over rival Garapan Elementary School Mallards, 3-2.

The Umangs had the upper hand from aggressive approaches at the net by Liam Palacios and Zekiel Isaac. Palacios broke the ice just about a minute into the game, for a 1-0 match. Then, with a defensive replacement, Isaac, who was the goalie in the first half, came in as a striker. Just a few minutes later, he scored their second goal in the 34th minute, and their final goal in the 36th.

With time running out, KES thought they could come away with the win unscathed with the score at 3-0, but the Mallards rushed the goal twice. Their first goal was made by Marl Balignasay in the 42nd minute, and before KES and the crowd knew what was happening, Haven Cadag scored another just a minute later to get within one, 2-3. However, KES’ defense tightened and with some close saves at the net, they managed to hold on and win the title.

At the end, Isaac was named the finals Most Valuable Player, while Palacios won the Golden Boot Award with 25 goals throughout the season.

With Palacios and Isaac were Patrick Mansfield, Sean Mina, Wyeth Castro, Deyvon Aldan, Emma Lee, Baylee Lizama, Nia Pebley, and Nichole Pumares.

Cadag and Balignasay were joined by Jaire Camacho, Ashriella Estabillo, Kylie Dia, Ranzley Yumul, Ryan Sonoda, Hazel Cadag, Aizon Suba, Rijuuan Halim, and Ethan Garon.

Third place went to William S. Reyes Elementary School 1 after they beat sister team WSR 2, 4-0.

Read the full story on our website.

Lily Muldoon named Top 5 female triathlete

CNMI’s very own Dr. Lily Muldoon is in the Top 5 list of female triathletes in the Pacific as of October 2026, according to the World Triathlon rankings.

Muldoon is number four on the list with 125 points, with a ranking of 46 in Oceania, and number 505 in the world. Top 1 is Guam’s Manami Ijimi with 767.75 points, Tahiti’s Guenaelle Rauby is second at 240.63 points, third is Cook Islands’ Maya Postrzygacz at 207.14 points, and fifth is Tahiti’s Manon Hotellier at 125 points.

Slim Reaperz rip through 2nd 3x3 title
Team Slim Reaperz carried their momentum and chemistry into their second straight 3x3 title after facing off against familiar foe Redeem Team in the 2026 NMIBF U18 3x3 Basketball Tournament on Thursday, Oct. 15, at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium.

The Slim Reaperz, made up of Matthew Peters, Joshua Yorormad, Nigel Masao, and Louis Rectitud, beat the Redeem Team made up of Austin Hoepner, James Matsumoto, Dany Defang, and Enzo Sasamoto, 19-15.

The 3x3 format is whoever scores 21 points first wins—or if 10 minutes are up before that, whoever has the most points wins.

The game opened up close, with each team taking turns sinking in their shots. But with time quickly expiring, Rectitud stepped up and let it fly from beyond the arc four times to expand their lead. (In 3x3 basketball, a basket from beyond the 3-point line equals two points and a shot inside the arc is one point).

The Redeem Team got as close as being down by just one with about 3 minutes left as Sasamoto went back-to-back from downtown, but the Slim Reaperz pulled away. Peters had the chance to close it out at 21 points, but didn’t sink in his last free throws. In the end, Rectitud led the team with a total of 14 markers, while Peters scored four, and Yorormad contributed one.

After the game, the Slim Reaperz said that it felt good winning this championship after winning the recent G-Rollers 3x3 tourney in September—also against the Redeem Team. Rectitud said of the team, “I’ve been boys with them ever since middle school so we just reunited for this 3x3 and we won, just like the last one. All praise to God.”

Peters, for his part, said, “I’d like to thank God first, for everything he’s done for us, helping us win, giving us the energy we needed. And thanks to the MVP Louis Rectitud for all the threes he drained.” On how they felt facing off against the Redeem Team once again, he said, “After the Rollers 3x3, they made some changes to their team, they made it stronger, and not gonna lie, it made us a bit nervous. But, we already knew after Louis shot that three, we were in the game, and we were going to win.”

NMI women’s team competing in Billie Jean King Cup

A CNMI delegation made up of Isabel Heras, Hyejin Elliott, Vivian Chung, and captain Jeff Race is in Vietnam for the 2026 Billie Jean King Cup 2026 Asia/Oceania Group III - Zone A. The competition is from Oct. 21-24, and they are in the group with Brunei, Nepal, and Saudi Arabia.

Stay tuned for the results of the competition.

Trench Tech Saipan to compete in Guam Marianas Open

About 15 competitors from Trench Tech Mixed Martial Arts Academy are gearing up for the Guam Marianas Open Gi & No-Gi International Championship from Oct. 24-25 at the University of Guam Calvo Field House.

The competitors are Kier Agda in the Adult Super Heavyweight and Open Weight, Purple Belt (No-Gi); Bonnie Sagana in the Adult Heavyweight and Open Weight, White Belt (No-Gi); Clayton Izuka in the Adult Super Heavyweight and Open Weight, White Belt (No-Gi); Marben Obando in the Adult Middleweight and Open Weight, White Belt (No-Gi); Ernest Licop competing in the Adult Lightweight and Open Weight, White Belt (No-Gi); Woong Choi is in the Master 41, Light Featherweight, White Belt; Drey Aldan of the Adult Division, Rooster Weight, Blue Belt (Gi and No-Gi); Vince “The Clinch” Masga in the Men’s 3, Featherweight Division, Brown Belt; and Justis “Cuki” Alvarez in the Master Black Belt division.

The young grapplers include Umatalaf Naputi in the Kids 4, Light Featherweight, Grey Belt (Gi and No-Gi); Gerard Naputi competing in the Kids 6, Light Weight, Grey Belt (Gi and No-Gi); Athena Barbara Quitugua Feger in the Kids 3, Female, Rooster Weight, White Belt (Gi and No-Gi); Jordan Kendrick Quitugua Camacho in the Kids 4, Male, Ultra Heavyweight, Grey Belt (Gi and No-Gi); and Justo Jeremiah Quitugua competing in the Kids 6, Male, Heavyweight, Grey Belt (Gi and No-Gi).

Trench Tech professor Justis “Cuki” Alvarez said that the academy has been competing in this event for the past 10 to 15 years. With the event in the region, he said, “now that it’s close to our region, this gives us the opportunity to compete at an international level that is super close to home.”

“The significance with the one on Guam of course certainly, it gives our kids the opportunity to compete against other kids from all over the region—Japan, Korea, the Philippines, the United States—I’m sure there’s going to be some Brazilians there,” said Alvarez. “In preparation for this event, since last year actually. So you know, we competed in last year’s event, myself included, we all medaled, so we’re looking to go and continue doing our best to test our skills against the best grapplers in the region.”

Before this competition, several competitions were held throughout the year across different countries to prepare for this main event. The first was the Copa de Marianas in Guam on Jan. 31; the Marianas Pro Nagoya on Mar. 14; the Marianas Pro Manila on April 25-26; the Marianas Pro Taiwan on May 30-31; the Marianas Pro Korea on June 6; the Marianas Dumau Open on June 20 in Guam; and the Marianas Pro Hong Kong on July 18-19.

Saipan Submissions gearing up for Guam Marianas Open

Saipan Submissions Academy is competing for the third time in the Guam Marianas Open Gi & No-Gi International Championship from Oct. 24-25 at the University of Guam Calvo Field House.

They are bringing a total of 15 competitors from the kids to the adult divisions. Makai Sablan will compete in Kid 2, White Belt, Light Featherweight (Gi); Hannah Kim will compete in White Belt, Featherweight (Gi & No-Gi); Aaden Das-Duenas will compete in Kid 3, Grey Belt, Middleweight (Gi & No-Gi), while Chance Attao will compete in Kid 3, Grey Belt, Heavyweight (Gi & No-Gi). Urijah Sablan will compete in Kid 3, Grey Belt, Lightweight (Gi), and Kaiya Pangelinan will compete in Kid 5, Yellow Belt, Middleweight (Gi & No-Gi).

Cornessa Dela Cruz will compete in Adult, White Belt, Heavyweight and Open Weight (Gi), while Momoko Halstead will compete in Adult, White Belt, Middleweight and Open Weight (No-Gi); John Villagomez will compete in Master 30, White Belt, Lightweight (Gi), and Shane Deleon Guerrero will compete in Master 30, White Belt, Middleweight and Open Weight (Gi & No-Gi).

Jesus Attao will compete in Adult, Blue Belt, Medium Heavy (Gi); Jacob Yamagishi will compete in Adult, Blue Belt, Lightweight (Gi & No-Gi), and James Garcia will compete in Adult, Blue Belt, Middleweight (Gi & No-Gi); Ciana Demapan will compete in Female Juvenile, Blue Belt, Middleweight and Open Weight (Gi & No-Gi); and Bryan Deleon Guerrero will compete in Adult, Black Belt, Featherweight (Gi) and Master 30 (No-Gi).

For this event, Saipan Submissions founder and head instructor Bryan Deleon Guerrero said they’ve been preparing for about three months. Competing in Guam, he said, “it’s pretty significant just because the sport is growing pretty rapidly. There’s a lot of competitors in Asia, but of course we want to showcase that the Marianas as a whole—Guam, Saipan, we’re raising good grapplers and we can hang with one of the best. This tournament is important to us.”

His expectations in the competition, Deleon Guerrero said, was that they’re going to do well. “Every year, we always bring a handful of medals. But it’s not only about the medals. It’s about their performance and showing that they’ve improved, win or lose. And I’ve seen the effort that they put in, and the hours that they’ve put in leading up to this so I know at the end regardless of whatever place it is, it’s going to be good results. So yeah, I’m excited.”