Sandwich junior Sunny Weber is the Record Newspapers girls track Athlete of the Year

Sunny Weber said she had never heard of the concept of the distance triple crown.

The Sandwich junior, in fact, was confused when the public address announcer at the state track and field meet announced that she had accomplished it.

No confusion as to who was the state’s top distance runner this school year.

Weber, who won the Class 2A state cross country championship in November, bookended her junior year in spectacular fashion in May.

She repeated as Class 2A 3,200-meter state champion in 10 minutes, 29.04 seconds. Then Weber won the 1,600 in a Class 2A record time of 4:41.90.

“It was definitely hard, but it wasn’t super hard, per se, with my training,” Weber said. “I was prepared with workouts. Workouts and competing, showing what I was capable of.”

Weber, now a six-time state medalist and three-time state champion on the track, is the Record Newspapers Athlete of the Year.

Weber was second in the 1,600 and won the 3,200 as a sophomore in 2024, but felt she was at a standstill competitively.

Her new distance coach, Brian Long, charted a game plan to push her, provide her exposure and prepare her best for state competition. That involved the meets she chose to compete in, and did not compete in, and her practice regimen.

Weber ran the 2-mile at New Balance Indoor Nationals in March in Boston, placing 15th, and won the 3,200 and 1,600 at the Illinois Indoor Championships in March at Chicago’s Gately Park.

She made waves nationally in early April, taking fifth in the 3,200 in a personal record 10:02.13 at the prestigious Arcadia Invitational in California.

“Being able to showcase myself with bigger meets to get my name out there, that pushed me and was a big factor in motivating me,” Weber said. “Me and my coach knew I wanted more competition.”

Competing at New Balance Indoors prepared Weber for Arcadia, and ultimately, for future competitions this season and beyond.

“It was a lot different experience,” she said. “I’m used to just competing with myself. Being able to compete with those girls, being able to learn and grow for that Arcadia competition, it helped me so much.”

Weber had to put trust in her new coach’s training plan with workouts and higher mileage. She perhaps was not at her best physically during the 2024 track season but she was in a much better place this spring.

“Last year it was adapting to it,” she said. “We were trying higher mileage and I wasn’t used to it. Cross [country] made me stronger physically and mentally. That helped push me for track.”

Weber limited her local races outdoors, but did win the 3,200 and anchored Sandwich’s 4x400 relay at the Kishwaukee River Conference meet, then swept the 3,200 and 1,600 at sectionals to qualify for state for the third time in both.

Setting sights on Woodstock star Kayla Beattie’s 1,600 record time of 4:43.65 from the 2011 finals was a goal Long put on Weber’s radar.

“My coach was definitely pushing for me to do it, and I knew I could do it, but it was hard to believe because I knew I would have to run the 3,200 first,” Weber said. “Being able to finally get there, at the starting line, I knew I could do it.

“I wanted to show everyone what I’m capable of, turning nerves into excitement. I was happy and confident going into that race.”

Weber, who plans to commit to her future college later this summer, is not quite done with outdoor season.

She competed at the HOKA Festival of Miles in St. Louis June 5, taking 12th in the 1-mile in a PR of 4:46.22. Weber plans to run the 2-mile at New Balance Outdoor Nationals on June 20 at the University of Pennsylvania’s Franklin Field in Philadelphia.

“And then a little break,” Weber said, “and then start training for cross country.”