AUSTRALIA’S Leyla Liakatos ruled the women’s 3000-meter event of the 2023 Oceania Cup on Saturday at the Oleai Sports Complex Oval track and field with the NMI’s Tania Tan finishing second.
Tan said their start time was moved about an hour earlier, “so it was even more hot and humid.”
But, she added, “that’s Saipan, so you just must endure it. Luckily it was slightly cloudy during my race.”
Throughout the long-distance event, Liakatos led the competition by a decent gap, maintaining proper speed. Tan broke away from the pack midway through and started to close in on the leader.
In the end, Liakatos finished first with a time of 10:43.89 while Tan came in second at 10:53.08. Polynesia’s Amandine Matera was third at 11:12.57; Melanesia’s Mary Tenge was fourth, 11:12.57; Micronesia’s Keira Paz was sixth, 12:20.2;, and the NMI’s Tiana Cabrera was seventh, 13:18.07.
“I’m pretty happy with how I did,” Tan said. “I started a bit more conservative and tried to make my way up to the front. I should’ve pushed a little harder to catch the lead runner, but overall I’m happy with how I did and glad I could score some points for our team, which is all that matters.”
Tan said she “liked having people from all the different regions of the Pacific racing. It’s nice to see everyone competing against each other, as having other people with you pushes you to try and run faster.”
She added, “I’m really glad [Saipan] hosted this event! I liked how the Oceania Cup was team-based and united all the regions into one instead of competing for your own island. I’m also glad they held the masters event so that it gives our older runners on island a chance to compete against other people from Oceania and experience the same level of competition we experienced.”
Men’s event
In the men’s 3000M event, Melanesia’s Aquila Turalom triumphed with a time 09:20.56, followed by Micronesia’s Hugh Kent at 09:23.45, and the NMI’s Pony Tang at 10:56.65.
The NMI runners filled up the rest of the top eight: Simon Tang in fourth place, 11:22.40; Sildrey Veloria, 11:29.53; Michael Mancao, 11:59.43; James Lin, 12:16.48; and Simon Necesito, 14:14.00.
Australia’s Layla Liakatos leads with the NMI’s Tania Tan right behind during the women’s 3000M event of the 2023 Oceania Cup Saturday at the Oleai Sports Complex Oval track and field.
