Tania resets NMI 3,000m indoor record

Tania Tan, seen here in action in the Ramapo Season Opener, set the first-ever indoor 5K CNMI record during the Metropolitan Indoor Track & Field Championship last weekend at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex in New York.
(CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)

Tania Tan has reset her own CNMI 3,000m record with a time of 10:57.58 in the Ramapo Season Opener indoor track meet last Jan. 21 at the Armory Track in New York City.
The 20-year-old Fordham University junior eclipsed her old record of 11:26.54 set at the Stockon University Invitational in 2021.

“I’m just happy to know that my training has been paying off and I’m always glad to represent the NMI even when I’m not back on the islands,” Tan told Saipan Tribune in a social media message.

More than the distance, she said overcoming the mental aspect of running the track 15 times was the toughest challenge.

“It was an indoor track meet so it was on a 200 meter banked indoor track at the Armory in NYC. I had to run 15 laps which was also mentally tough because it is just so many laps,” she said.

Tan finished seventh overall and was the second Fordham runner to cross the finish line, helping the team secure a definitive victory at the meet.

Fordham scored 120 points, followed by Iona University with 76 points, and Wagner University with 71.5 points. Fordham is a NCAA Division 1 school, competing in the Atlantic 10 Conference.

“I want to thank everyone who’s been supporting me throughout my running career especially Northern Marianas Athletics,” she said.

Tan is pursuing a double major at Fordham University in Anthropology and Digital Technology and Emerging Media. She is also minoring in sports journalism.

Tan, a familiar name in distance running in the CNMI, was the 2019 valedictorian from Saipan International School and is currently a member of the Run Saipan board of directors. She was a Varsity Cross Country and Track runner at SIS, serving as a two-year captain for Cross Country. She also earned the distinction of team MVP for Cross Country.

“We couldn’t be prouder of Tania and her accomplishments,” commented former coach, Dr. Ron Snyder, headmaster at SIS and middle/long distance coach for Northern Marianas Athletics. “Especially with the added difficulties put upon her by the pandemic. This shows a level of perseverance that is truly remarkable.”

In addition to school-level competitions, Tan was an All-Island Top 15 girls finisher at the 2018 Asia Pacific Invitational Cross Country Championship, helping the team place fourth overall.

She represented the CNMI at the 2018 Oceania Cross Country Championships in Australia, the 2019 South Pacific Games and was the 3,000- and 5,000-meter champion at the Oceania Micronesian Regional Championship, while earning a silver medal in the U18 1,500 meters.