Sandwich High School, and the entire running community, can thank Sunny Weber’s mom.

She stuck to her guns.

Growing up, Weber’s mom signed her daughter up for cheerleading, gymnastics and softball. Weber hated them all, begged her mom to let her quit, and she did.

When mom signed Sunny up for cross country in fifth grade, same thing happened.

“I begged her to let me quit cross country,” Weber said. “She wouldn’t let me.”

Mom made Sunny stick out the season. Sunny realized that she liked liked running, especially when she found out she could stay at a hotel if she made state.

As it turns out, Sunny Weber was the athlete in her family. And one of the greatest athletes to ever come out of Sandwich.

Weber won her first high school race – the Morris Early Bird Invite – and never looked back.

Her win in the Class 2A 1,600-meter run at the IHSA state track and field meet last month, her last race running for Sandwich, was Weber’s sixth state championship across cross country and track.

Paired with Weber’s second-place finish in the 3,200, she finished her career with eight state medals in track.

She is the Record Newspapers girls track and field Athlete of the Year.

It’s been quite a run since that first high school run.

Weber once said that she kind of believed in herself that she could do what she did at that Early Bird Invite with more races, but no, she never expected all of this.

“I think I would be honestly shocked at what I’ve done,” Weber said. “I never thought I would have so many opportunities, never knew. I’m just super grateful and super proud of myself.”

Weber has a few runs left in her before heading to Duke this fall to run cross country and track, and pursue a degree in Biology.

At the Music City Track Carnival in Cleveland, Tennessee she won the 3,200 in a personal best 9 minutes, 59.11 seconds. On June 4 at the HOKA Festival of Miles in St. Louis she ran a personal best 4:44.96 in the 1-mile run.

She plans to run the 1-mile and the 2-mile at the New Balance Outdoor Nationals June 18-21 in Philadelphia.

At the state meet, Montini’s Sydney Gertsen powered past Weber in the 3,200, Weber finishing in 10:11.23. But in the 1,600, Weber fended off Gertsen to defend her title in 4:47.46.

“The 3,200 didn’t go exactly how I wanted, but I’m OK with it,” Weber said. “I’m just focused on this last meet coming up, finishing out my high school season strong and happy.”

Weber missed out on breaking the all-class record in the 1,600, but said she felt good about the run.

“Coming into it I wanted to push the time, I tried, but it was definitely not ideal conditions,” Weber said. “My legs felt heavier than I expected, stronger for the 3,200. I was happy with how I bounced back and closed fast. Happy with how I was able to finish.”

Sandwich coach Brian Long said they had gone into the season with goals for Weber to break the 4:40 barrier for the 1,600 and get in the low 9:50s for the 3,200.

“State meet, we were a little disappointed that Sunny was not able to finish first in the two-mile, but Sydney ran an amazing race and you have to respect that. I think it added a little fuel to the fire,” Long said. “It you look at the field that Sunny will be going up against New Balance, it’s one of the most talented fields in both races. Katy Zang has run a 9:37 indoors in the two-mile. If Sunny is wanting to go out and achieve those low 9:50s, this would be the weekend to do it.”

Weber likes to think that, even if she had quit running in fifth grade, she would have found her way back. It’s one of her few passions, along with reading and painting her nails. She likes to run in the mornings to beat the heat, oftentimes by herself but occasionally joined by her coach.

“I just love running,” Weber said. “It’s such a big stress reliever. I’m so calm and so much at peace when I’m out there.”

Long first came aboard to coach Weber her sophomore year, and his goal was for her to understand the new workouts he had in mind. Once she did, she took off.

She got into her first elite race at New Balance Nationals, and qualified for Nike Cross Nationals last fall, taking 13th. Coaching her through adapting to competing against other elite runners has been rewarding.

“Her work ethic is extremely rare. She is very driven, and it’s more intrinsic motivation to be the best version of herself. I love that about her,” Long said. “She just has extreme dedication to the sport. She is very into becoming a student of the sport. She wants to understand the whys, becoming that holistic runner, and she just loves it.”

As Weber has continued to accumulate achievements in running and raised her profile in the running community, she’s felt personal growth as a person.

She swept the 1,600 and 3,200 races at sectionals, and ran a season-best 10:00.10 3,200 for fourth place at the prestigious Arcadia Invitational in April in California.

“I just think I overcame if I had doubts about myself, to try to become more confident. I try not to take running like it’s life and death,” she said. “I just think I’ve grown as a person mentally.”