Salvi eyes CrossFit coaching in Portland

Salvi Villanueva will continue his studies in Oregon and at the same time work as a coach in a CrossFit gym in Portland. (Contributed Photo)

Salvi Villanueva is all set to take on a more challenging role when he moves to Oregon after finishing his nursing assistant degree at the Northern Marianas College. He will graduate this month and is expected to leave for Portland in time for the opening of the semester.

“I’m set to graduate [this month], so it has been a little hectic juggling training and studying for the final weeks of my Nursing degree,” said Villanueva.

Villanueva said he will work as a part time nursing aid while pursuing further studies at the Oregon Health and Science University in Portland to get his bachelor’s in nursing degree and become a registered nurse.

CrossFit training and competing will still be included in his daily life in the Pacific Northwest. “I would focus would more in school and working as a nurse. But I would definitely look for a CrossFit box and do some coaching there too,” said Villanueva.

Villanueva will leave Saipan for a while after giving the CNMI recognition in several sporting events in the region. He clinched the men’s RX division in last month’s 5th Marianas Trench Throwdown held at the Chamorri CrossFit Gym in Tamuning, Guam.

He placed second to Airman Alex Johnson in the same tournament last year and finished fourth in the men’s 77-kilogram division of the 2015 Micronesia Weightlifting Invitational held in Guam.

Villanueva had three bronze medals in the CNMI weightlifting team’s 12 medal-haul in the 2014 Micronesian Games in Pohnpei. He won bronzes in the men’s 77kg division with a total lift of 201kg behind an 86kg snatch, and 115kg clean and jerk.

Despite his success in weight lifting, Villanueva said he will stick to CrossFit.

“I tried doing weightlifting but my body didn’t like it. I felt like I was losing strength and burning out. Doing CrossFit actually made me a lot stronger and explosive.”

Diet also helped not only with his training but with his daily activities, too, at work and school. “My diet had to be clean so that I could optimally train and stay energized throughout the day for school, work, and all the extracurricular stuff that I was doing.”

He thanked his family—father Donald, mother Malou, and brother Andrew—and friends who supported him, be it with his studies or his athletic career. “I’m very thankful that I have a supportive family and a group who were able to keep me in it all the way.”

“Thank you to my family who have always believed in me and put up with my early morning and late night training for the past couple of months; my girlfriend Akeiko Dela Cruz, who never doubted my abilities; and training partners Joey Tudela, Bobby Cruz, and Morris Villanueva.”