SIMON Necesito, a seventh grade ELA teacher, may not have won any medal during the recently held 2023 Oceania Cup, but he is happy to be able represent his home, the NMI, which he considers a huge personal accomplishment.
Necesito competed in two events. In the 1500m distance, he finished 11th with a time of 06:07.11, and in the 3000m distance, he finished eighth with a time of 14:14.00.
“It was my first international event,” he said. “It’s nice to be able to represent the NMI in the heart of the NMI, Saipan.”
He said he was very nervous to compete with the other athletes from the Oceania region. “But most of the people I met were very open and kind,” he added. “I got really cool insights on how to become a better runner. All in all, it was a great experience.”
Last year, Necesito considered representing the NMI in a throwing event, but felt it was not the right sport for him so tried to qualify as a sprint runner in the Northern Marianas Pacific Mini Games 2022. Unfortunately, he injured his left knee.
This year, he said, “I think I found the discipline that I want to get better at,” referring to the middle-distance event. “I see myself doing this in the long run — literally,” he added.
The 29-year-old athlete said there were two reasons behind his goal to compete in an international event. “I wanted to do this for the students. I wanted to show them that as long as you push through, you can do something as great as representing the NMI. Anything is possible as long as you set your mind to it,” Necesito said.
“Secondly, you would never have thought that a person like me — an underground gamer — would do something major such as an event like this. What these races have taught me is that I can do better. I can push harder even in the last years of my 20s.”
Simon Necesito pushes through the 1500m event of the 2023 Oceania Cup at the Oleai Sports Complex track and field oval.
