EDWARDSVILLE - Edwardsville junior girls track sprinter Paige Sanders has enjoyed success with the rest of her 4x200 meter relay team in the early days of the season, placing second in their heat in the Illinois Top Times indoor meet in Bloomington on Mar. 25. then winning the 4x100 meters and the sprint medley relay at the Southwest Illinois Relays at the Winston Brown Track and Field Center on Mar. 28.
Sanders is an iCAN Clinic Female Athlete of the Month for Edwardsville High School.
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The team, which also consists of Blakely Hockett, Karli Barton and Gabby Thompson, was second in their heat at the Top Times meet, breaking the school record with a time of 1:48.24, then won the 4x100 meters with a time of 50.75 seconds and then won the 800-meter sprint medley relay at 2:00.42 second with a team of Sanders, Hockett, Brooklyn Carr and Kaitlyn Morningstar.
During an interview that followed her races, Sanders felt that the entire team, who eventually finished second to O'Fallon, all performed well and felt very good about the events of the day.
"I think we're doing pretty good as a team," Sanders said, "and I think we were really strong in state and I'm actually really, really proud of my group of girls that I was with during that. And I think we did amazing."
Sanders also felt that her relay team has performed well and is ready for the challenges that lie ahead during the new season.
"I think we did pretty good," Sanders said. "We've been winning a lot of our races and I think we're doing pretty good as a team right now outdoors."
As befits a new season, Sanders has some lofty, yet easily reachable goals for herself, her team, and the Tigers in 2023.
"I just want us to get stronger," Sanders said. "I just want us to be better runners. I want us to just have a good mentality during running and I just really want the best for us."
It's so far, so good for Sanders and the Tigers early on and she has high hopes for both herself and the team this season.
"I think we're going to do amazing this entire season," Sanders said, "and I know we're going to do great."
