Tania breaks CNMI 3,000m record

The CNMI’s Tania Tan, right, seen here running for Fordham University in a recent meet. (Contributed Photo)

Tania Tan has broken the CNMI record for the 3,000m with a time of 11:26:54, surpassing the 27-year-old record of 12:13.9, set by Carol Lynn Pierce in 1994 at the Micronesian Games in Guam.

Tan is a student at Fordham University where she is running both cross country and track. The Saipan International School alumnae ran for a new personal best last April 16 at the Stockton University Invite in Galloway, New Jersey, an NCAA-sanctioned event. Tan said that her goal going into the race was to try her hardest and hopefully earn a new personal best. Tan added, “I felt pretty confident going in because my training was going well and I felt good mentally and physically. However, I haven’t run a 3,000m race in so long (since COVID-19 hit) so I had no expectations of how I would actually do. So when I saw my time after my race, I couldn’t believe that I broke my personal best time by almost one minute.”

Tan is no stranger to competitive running in the CNMI. She is a veteran of the Saipan International School Cross Country and Track teams where she led the team in distance events. “Tania is a very passionate runner,” said SIS headmaster Ron Snyder and Northern Marianas Athletics distance running coach, “She represented SIS well in all of our meets locally and made us proud in the many international competitions she raced in during her high school years. She is a role model to our up-and-coming squad of runners both male and female.”

Tan was a two-time national runner for cross country at the Asia Pacific Cross Country Invitational as well as represented the CNMI in the 2018 Oceania Cross Country Championships in Australia, the XVI Pacific Games in Samoa, and the Oceania Micronesian Regional Championships in 2018 where she set her previous PR of 12:20:99.

Robin Sapong, general secretary of NMA, added, “Tania continues to inspire female athletes in the CNMI even though she is away for college. She gathered a team of fellow classmates from SIS for the Run The Marianas virtual run, joined a Run Saipan team in the NMI Women’s Run, and has signed up for the 10K Jedi Knight Category in the upcoming May The 4th Be With You, CNMI run in honor of Star Wars Day. We have high expectations for her and look forward to many more records being set.” (NMA)