The NMI’s Andrew Johnson, left, and Logan Mister, pose with their bronze medal in beach volleyball.
NMI flag bearer Tania Tan gets ready for start of the closing ceremonies of the 2023 Pacific Games in Honiara, the Solomon Islands on Saturday night.
HONIARA, Solomon Islands (Northern Marianas Sports Association) — Beach Volleyball’s Logan Mister and Andrew Johnson made it to the podium, while athletics’ Tania Tan may have set another record, giving Team Marianas a strong finish in the 2023 Pacific Games that concluded Saturday night in Honiara, the Solomon Islands.
Johnson and Mister dominated home favorite Tam Teriba and Ray Quan in the third place match on Friday, 21-13, 21-15, to hand the NMI a bronze medal. Australia won the gold after downing Tuvalu in the finals, 19-21, 21-18, 15-21. Johnson and Mister finished pool play with a 3-0 record and had a tough draw in the next round when they faced Australia and lost in the semis, 11-21, 18-21. Tuvalu defeated Solomon Islands in the other semis pairing, 21-13, 21-14.
With Mister and Johnson winning the bronze, the NMI’s total medal haul in the 2013 Pacific Games was 13 — five gold medals, 1 silver, and 7 bronzes.
Tan owned the two golds medals following her stunning victories in the 5K and 10K runs and she nearly added a bronze after finishing fourth in the half marathon on Saturday. The 22-year-old runner clocked 1:29:22, which pending confirmation from Northern Marianas Athletics, may be a new NMI record.
Tan was the NMI’s flag bearer at the closing ceremonies of the 2023 Pacific Games. She was joined in the closing ceremonies by the NMI’s beach volleyball, bodybuilding, golf, football, tennis, swimming, triathlon, va’a, and weightlifting athletes as well as officials who showed resilience and teamwork for more than two weeks to represent Team Marianas well and leave a mark in the 2023 Pacific Games.
Besides Tan, the other gold medalists for the NMI were swimming’s Isaiah Aleksenko, bodybuilding’s Christina Tudela, and weightlifting’s Raymond Santos. Santos also handed the NMI its lone silver medal in Honiara, while Aleksenko had a bronze and his teammates in the two relay races added two more bronzes to Team Marianas’ total. Bodybuilding’s Davy Laxa and weightlifting Leowell Cristobal were the other bronze medalists for the NMI.
Following the closing ceremonies of the 2023 Pacific Games on Saturday, Team Marianas returned home Sunday night on a Solomon Airlines charter flight.
Team Marianas’ historic journey to the 2023 Pacific was made possible through the strong support and generosity of Joeten Daidai Foundation, Triple J, Crowne Plaza Resort, IT&E, IP&E, Tan Siu Lin Foundation, Mobil, Tan Holdings, and McDonald’s.
The National Stadium in Honiara is filled with athletes, officials, guests, and spectators as the 2023 Pacific Games came to a close Saturday night in the Solomon Islands.
