Junior cross country runner Shania Tandon is a shining example of what it means to be “driven” here at Naperville North High School.
Tandon returned for her third year on the NNHS varsity girls cross country team and recently helped the team qualify for their 34th consecutive state appearance. Even with being named a 2024 IHSA All-State athlete, her success has not come without struggle. Tandon experienced one of the biggest challenges of her life before this year’s fall season began.
“This summer, I got hit by a car. It was the largest setback I’ve ever had to face in running,” Tandon said.
Tandon was running on a rainy day with low visibility when she was struck by a moving vehicle. She was forced on the sidelines for the beginning of the season, cheering her teammates on instead of running the course. This experience was new to her; she had never been on the “outside looking in.” However, Tandon did not let her injury become a mental setback. She elaborates on how she instead used her fast recovery as a way to learn from the accident.
“It was really amazing to recover that fast, especially because I got run over. I didn’t break any bones, just tissue damage there, so really working through that and trusting myself, relearning how to believe in myself, was really cool,” Tandon said.
According to her coaches, Tandon has always been an athlete with an exceptional attitude. Matthew Sniadecki, one of NNHS’s cross country coaches, shares his thoughts on her exemplary work ethic.
“She does the tasks most people wouldn’t do unless being watched or forced. Can’t get out of bed? She already is. Sore today? So is she, but she is lifting right now or on a bike. She literally got hit by a car this past summer, and her first opportunity to get back to training, she was doing so,” Sniadecki said.
Head Coach Dan Iverson, who has won nine state cross country championships in his time at NNHS (1994 to present), corroborates Sniadecki’s point.
“She can deal with setbacks, which is obviously what she’s done this year … sometimes people that have achieved what she’s achieved don’t take coaching in that way. She’s modest and humble enough to want to get better, and know[s] that there’s always pathways to get better, [and] she’s looking for those,” Iverson said.
One of Tandon’s biggest lessons she has learned in her past three years at North has been her strive for “progress over perfection,” showcasing her commitment to her improvement and her continued drive to succeed for herself, her teammates and her program. Sniadecki commented on how impressed he is with Tandon’s shift in perspective over the years.
“I am so utterly proud of this change, as it makes me feel she will succeed in life, not just cross country and track. Realizing to be a kid and giving yourself grace as you still push for excellence is something as a coach I can walk away with knowing we did right by her as an athlete and a person,” Sniadecki said.
