TRIATHLETES WARM UP FOR MINI GAMES WITH SHORT COURSE

GSPN

May 29

This is the first in a series of previews of Team Guam heading to Saipan for the 2022 Pacific Mini Games

By Jay Leon Guerrero

Ryan Matienzo took home first place in the Guam Triathlon Summer Sprint Series Race 1 Sunday Morning at the Piti Channel with a time of 1:04:38. Matienzo, along with male participant teammates John Carlo Baguyo and Mark Imazu, will be representing Guam at the Pacific Mini Games in the CNMI in three weeks.

Guam Triathlon Federation President Mark Cruz is excited for this team and he is also confident the team will do their best to get on the medal stand. According to Cruz, the team will have a chance to win three medals in the individual and team events.

The sprint event on Sunday went from a triathlon to a duathlon after Cruz got stung by a jellyfish prior to the race start as he was doing a course check. Cruz said safety is a priority so the Federation decided to make the event a run-bike-run event.

The Guam contingent will start the Games off with their event in Rota on June 20 and 22. Guam's lone female participant will be Manami Iijima-Martin who was busy overseas competing in a professional triathlon event in Korea.

As her male counterparts were competing on Guam, Iijima-Martin finished second in the Korea Challenge Triathlon. Iijima-Martin was also GSPN's Athlete of the Year in 2017 and competes overseas as a pro triathlete.

"I'm excited to finally compete for Guam. I wasn't able compete in the last Games although I qualified for it because I didn't receive my citizenship yet," said Baguyo. He has since received his U.S. citizenship and the Guam resident for the last 11 years will make his debut in Rota. "I'm Filipino but I'm also proud to represent the island of Guam".

GUAM TRIATHLETES
Ryan Matienzo
John Carlo Baguyo
Mark Imazu
Manami Iijima-Matin

Baguyo said that his good friend and training partner Matienzo has pushed him to achieve PR's in running and is happy to compete alongside him. Matienzo has been a long list of achievements, especially in distance races. "It was hot today and it is something we are going to get used too because the race in Rota will start at 1030 am," said Matienzo.

Ryan Matienzo took first place in the Summer Super Sprint Series on Sunday, just three weeks away from the Pacific Mini Games in the CNMI. (photo by Matua Salas)

"This is going to be my first (international) triathlon event so I'm training a lot, especially on the swimming portion because it is my weakest event," said Matienzo. "Training for this is time consuming because I'm also going to represent Guam in athletics as well."

Multi-Event Athletes
Iijima-Martin, Imazu and Matienzo will also be competing with the Track & Field team after their triathlon event in Rota is completed. The three athletes will go to Saipan after the conclusion of their triathlon to join the track teammates and will all compete in distance races.

"It's time consuming for all this training and I'm just making sure I'm getting the right nutrition intake," said Matienzo. Matienzo will be competing in the half marathon event which is one of the final events of the games.

The youngest member of the team is Imazu. Imazu, who will be graduating soon from JFK High School, was also selected as a Shieh Scholarship Student-Athlete Finalist.

Imazu is the strongest swimmer in the group and was disappointed the swimming portion was scratched but understood safety is the top priority for all athletes. "The swim portion is the strongest leg, it helps me create a 3-5 minute gap with the rest of the pack," said Imazu.

Despite qualifying for the triathlon team in the past, this will be Imazu's first time to compete in the triathlon. He qualified for previous Games but he was too young to compete which is part of the international games rules.