NMI cross country team descends Down Under

From left, Sildrey Veloria, Dr. Ron Snyder, and Tania Tan take a photo at the Sydney Opera House after completing an 8-mile run.(CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)

Tania Tan, Sildrey Veloria, and coach/masters athlete Dr. Ron Snyder are now in Australia and completed a training run in Sydney before embarking on their three-and-a-half- hour bus ride to Bathurst, the site of the World Athletics Cross Country Championships 2023.

“We are in Sydney for two days recovering from the trip. Tania and Sildrey compete in the 18th and I compete on the 19th. Today (Tuesday) we did a nice 8-mile run from the Sydney Opera House along the harbor,” Synder said in a social media message to Saipan Tribune.

All three are looking forward to representing the CNMI in the cross country championships. 

“I’m very grateful to be given this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to compete at such a prestigious event. This is a very elite race with so many amazing athletes so I just hope to do the best I can. Since it is currently winter in the U.S., I actually am very much looking forward to being back in the warmth. I can’t wait to be able to race in shorts and a tank top and not be freezing. I am an island girl after all,” said Tan.

Veloria, for his part, knows coming in with a podium finish is not in the cards, but is laser-focus on doing his best in the cross country championships. 

“I’m incredibly thrilled to go to Australia for the World Athletics Cross Country Championships and to meet new individuals who I’ll be competing against there. I’m sure it’s going to be an amazing experience. I anticipate that I will fall further back in the pack in the race, and it will be a really difficult yet enjoyable competition.” 

The Northern Marianas College student hopes the training he underwent this past few months will pay off in Australia.

“My goal for the past two months of training has been to gradually increase the number of miles I run each week while also focusing on improving the finer points of my running form. And I just want to say thanks to all my coaches and God for giving me this opportunity to compete for the NMI,” he said.

Tan and Veloria will both be racing in the senior division in the 10K race on Feb. 18.

Aside from competing in the World Masters in the 55-59 Year Old Division on Feb. 19, Snyder will also be attending two coaching seminars as well as teach a seminar on endurance running using a games-based approach during the cross country championships.

The CNMI will be joining five other island nations to debut for the first time at a World Cross Country Championship, which is regarded as the toughest race on the calendar. It combines the world’s greatest distance runners and challenging terrain to create a unique spectacle in sport. 

The 2023 event will be the 44th edition of these storied championships and will welcome more than 550 elite athletes from more than 60 countries to the famed Mount Panorama venue at Bathurst.