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The 2026 Times Girls Track and Field Athlete of the Year: Sandwich’s Sunny Weber · Illinois Valley - Shaw Local

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  Speaker 1: The twenty twenty six Times Girls Track and Field Athlete
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  of the Year Sandwich is Sonny Weber. Written by Joshua Well,
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  This article is being read by an automated voice brought
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  to you by Everlett. Sandwich High School and the entire
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  running community can thank Sonny Weber's mom. She's stuck to
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  her guns. Growing up, Weber's mom signed her daughter up
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  for cheerleading, gymnastics, and softball. Weber hated them all, begged
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  her mom to let her quit, and she did. When
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  mom signed Sonny up for cross country in fifth grade,
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  the same thing happened. I begged her to let me
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  quit cross country. Weber said she wouldn't let me. Mom
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  made Sonny stick out the season. Sonny realized that she
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  liked running, especially when she found out she could stay
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  at a hotel if she made state. As it turns out,
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  Sonny Weber was the athlete in her family and one
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  of the greatest athletes to ever ever come out of
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  Sandwich High School. Weber won her first high school race,
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  the Morris Early Bird Invite, and never looked back. Her
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  win in the class to a one thousand, six hundred
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  meter run at the ISA State Track and Field meet
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  last month. Her last race running for Sandwich was Weber's
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  sixth state championship across cross country and track, paired with
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  Weber's second place finish in the three thy two hundred.
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  She finished her career with eight state medals in track
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  and is the twenty twenty six Times Girls Track and
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  Field Athlete of the Year. It's been quite a run
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  since that first high school run. Weber once said that
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  she kind of believed in herself that she could do
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  what she did at that early Bird invite with more races,
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  but no, she never expected all of this. I think
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  I would be honestly shocked at what I've done, Weber said,
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  I never thought I would have so many opportunities. Never knew.
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  I'm just super grateful and super proud of myself. Weber
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  has a few runs left in her before heading to
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  Duke this fall to run cross country and track and
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  pursue a degree in biology. At the Music City Track
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  Carnival in Cleveland, Tennessee, she won the three thousand two
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  hundred in a personal best nine minutes fifty nine point
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  one to one seconds. On June fourth at the Hoka
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  Festival of Miles in Saint Louis. She ran a personal
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  best four to forty four point ninety six in the
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  mile run. She plans to run the one mile in
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  the two mile at the New Balance Outdoor Nationals from
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  June eighteenth to twenty one in Philadelphia. At the state meet, Montini,
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  Sidney Gertzen powered past Weber in the three thousand two hundred,
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  Weber finishing in ten eleven point twenty three, but in
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  the one thousand six hundred, Weber fended off Gertzen to
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  defend her title in four C seven point four to six.
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  The three thousand two hundred didn't go exactly how I wanted,
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  but I'm okay with it, Weber said, I'm just focused
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  on this last meet coming up, finishing out in my
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  high school season strong and happy. Weber miss out on
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  breaking the all class record in the one thousand six hundred,
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  but said she felt good about the run coming into it.
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  I wanted to push the time I tried, but it
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  was definitely not ideal conditions. Webster said, my legs felt
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  heavier than I expected, stronger for the three thousand two hundred.
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  I was happy with how I bounced back and closed fast,
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  happy with how I was able to finish. Sandwich coach
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  Brian Long said they had gone into the season with
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  goals for Weber to break the four to forty barrier
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  for the one thousand, six hundred and get in the
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  low nine fifties for the three thousand, two hundred state meet.
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  We were a little disappointed that Sonny was not able
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  to finish first in the two mile, but Sidney ran
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  an amazing race and you have to respect that. I
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  think it added a little fuel to the fire. Long said,
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  if you look at the field that Sonny will be
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  going up against new balance, it's one of the most
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  talented fields in both races. Katie Zang has run a
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  nine to thirty seven indoors in the two mile. If
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  Sonny is wanting to go out and achieve those low
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  nine fifties, this would be the weekend to do it.
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  Weber likes to think that even if she had quit
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  running in fifth grade, she would have found her way back.
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  It's one of her few passions, along with reading and
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  painting her nails. She likes to run in the mornings
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  to beat the heat, oftentimes by herself, but occasionally joined
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  by her coach. I just love running, Weber said, it's
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  such a big stress reliever. I'm so calm and so
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  much at peace when I'm out there. Long first came
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  aboard to coach Weber her sophomore year, and his goal
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  was for her to understand the new workouts he had
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  in mind. Once she did, she took off. She got
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  into her first elite race at New Balanced Nationals and
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  qualified for Nike Cross Nationals last fall, taking thirteenth. Coaching
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  her through adapting to compete against other elite runners has
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  been rewarding. Her work ethic is extremely rare. She is
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  very driven, and it's more intrinsic motivation to be the
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  best version of herself. I love that about her. Long said.
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  She just has extreme dedication to the sport. She is
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  very into becoming a student of the sport. She wants
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  to understand the whyse becoming that holistic runner, and she
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  just loves it. As Weber has continued to accumulate achievements
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  in running and raised her profile in the running community,
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  she's felt personal growth. She's swept the one thousand, six
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  hundred and three thousand, two hundred races at sex Structionals
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  and ran a season best ten o'clock ten three thy
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  two hundred for fourth place at the prestigious Arcadia Invitational
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  in April and California. I just think I overcame if
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  I had doubts about myself, to try to become more confident.
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  I try not to take running like its life and death,
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  she said. I just think I've grown as a person mentally,