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Sandwich’s Sunny Weber is the Record Newspapers girls track and field Athlete of the Year · Kendall County News - Shaw Local

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