Peyton Sand '23 Recruiting Profile

Hello! My name is Peyton Sand. I run both cross country and track for the Riverdale Rams here in Port Byron Illinois. I am currently heading into my senior year and college is something I want to pursue after graduation.  

Throughout middle school, I wasn't really into running. I was primarily a jumper and a sprinter. Our new cross country coach came to the middle school one day to see who would be interested in starting a new cross country program at my high school. I saw my friends joining and was influenced by them and by my family's history of long-distance running. I had to split time between baseball and running throughout the 2019 summer. At regionals, I dropped my pr by almost a minute and that got me more excited to see what I could do in the future. I had a much better winter than I did the previous summer and was ready to go before the pandemic stole the season away from me. 

Covid-19 allowed me to be cooped in with almost nothing to do which led me to focus on my daily run. With my dad's help I started running almost every day and got into the best cross country shape I have ever been in. I dropped my pr by almost 2 minutes by the end of the year and accomplished a lot more than I thought I could have. I ran personal bests almost every meet and I placed top 15 at regionals and placed 46th at sectionals which is a lot better than I did my freshman year. I helped our young team place in the top 5 at sectionals which would have let us compete at the 2020 IHSA state meet, but due to the pandemic we could not compete. 

I am very open to exploring the United States when it comes to what college I would like to attend. I love traveling and I really want to see the United States outside of the midwest. I want to travel as much of the world as possible before I start a career in the job force. 

I am a very hard worker. I love to push myself and see how it benefits me in the future. You can give me any challenge and I will work to get there. I love being a part of a team. Not only does being on a team make practices more fun but they also make meets way more energetic. I view myself as a good leader due to my knowledge of track and cross country and the positivity I try to spread before and after every meet. I love getting the team hyped up before a meet and encouraging everyone to go for it every meet. I hope to have success in running in college and to be a great influence on not only my teammates but young people getting into long distance running.