By Roselyn B. Monroyo
Variety News Staff

SWIMMERS and a junior tennis played were named by the Northern Marianas Amateur Athletics Association as top athletes for February.
In NMASA’s meeting last Thursday, swimmers Kensuke Kimura and Rezne Wong won the Male Student and Male Athletes of the Month titles.
Kimura won the Male Student plum after his impressive performance in Saipan Swim Club’s heptathlon event last month.
The 10-year old swimmer swam event events and recorded 6-of-7 lifetime best swims.
But his most commendable feat was his record-breaking swim in the 200m freestyle.
Kimura timed in at two minutes, 35.13 seconds in the 200m freestyle shattering the 26-year old record of Jon Sakovich.
The mark was the third new record Kimura set in the last eight weeks. He made new marks in the 400m and 800m freestyle swims during the Guam International Meet in December last year.
Kimura was the top point winner in the heptathlon meet in the boys’ 9-10 age group collecting 575 points and second overall.
Last Friday during the SSC International Invitational swim meet, Kimura broke two more marks.
He swam in the 800m freestyle and timed in at 11 minutes, 18.39 seconds dropping more than 50 seconds off Rezne Wong’s previous record in the 9 to 10 age group.
Kimura clocked 3:23.31 in the 200m breaststroke eclipsing his own record set in last year’s Micronesian Games by more than 11 seconds.
Kimura’s teammate Wong also joined seven events in the heptathlon and equaled the former’s LTB records going 6-of-7.
The Marianas High School student was the top point winner in the meet with 620 points.
After the heptathlon event, Wong held his ground against a Korean professional swimmer placing second in the Meek and Mighty Ocean swim.
Wong posted 1:05:53 in the 5K swim.
Both Wong and Kimura are chosen to represent SSC and the NMI to two tournaments in Japan in June.
Whispering Palms’ student Jessica Soll shared the limelight with the SSC swimmers after claiming the Female Student Athlete of the Month.
After a numerous bridesmaid finish, Soll won the girls’ 13-and-under singles division of the NMITA Coconut Classic Tennis Championships last month.
Soll prevailed over Melody Johnson in the finals.
Soll won not only once in the junior netfest, but two times, as she teamed up with Colin Ramsey and topped the Mixed-up doubles B division. Soll and Ramsey beat Johnson and Michael Grandinetti in the finals, 6-4, 6-2.