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A7
Hermiston’s Sanchez is ready to run
Cydney Sanchez
overcomes injuries
and illness to
qualify for state
3A TRACK AND FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Hermiston qualifi ers
Mt. Tahoma High School, May 26-28
Ryker McDonald (100, shot put); Caden Hottman (shot put, discus); Cydney
Sanchez (1,600); Jackie Garcia (800); Bailey Young (shot put, discus, javelin).
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
H
ERMISTON — After
an outstanding freshman
season, Cydney Sanchez’s
running career has had its ups and
downs the past two years, but on
Saturday, May 21, the Hermiston
senior fi nally had the success she’s
been chasing after.
Sanchez placed second in the
1,600 meter at the 3A District 8
Championships with a personal
best — and school record — time of
5:16.71 to earn a trip to state.
“I knew I had gotten it,” Sanchez
said of the record. “There are certain
paces, and I was under that. At fi rst I
really didn’t believe it. It really didn’t
register with me until 30 minutes
after the race. I was pretty much in
shock. My main concern was what
place I got.”
Her previous best was 5:25.70
at the Mid-Columbia Conference
Championships the week before.
The previous school record was
5:24.6, set by Jennifer Macias in
2006.
The top three in each event quali-
fi ed for the 3A State Track and Field
Championships at Mt. Tahoma High
School in Tacoma, Washington.
“Going into this season, I really
didn’t have a lot of expectations in
mind,” Sanchez said. “I just wanted
to feel happy running again.”
No one was more happy for
Sanchez than Hermiston distance
coach Troy Blackburn, who has seen
her suff er through so much.
“Truthfully, I was always hope-
ful,” Blackburn said of Sanchez qual-
Kathy Aney/East Oregonian, File
Cydney Sanchez of Hermiston competes in the 1,600-meter run April 1,
2021, during a track and fi eld meet against Pasco and Chiawana at Kenni-
son Field, Hermiston. Sanchez fi nished second and set the school record
in the 1,600 at the District 8 Championships on May 22, 2022, in Spokane.
Her time was 5:16.71.
ifying for state.” I knew it was in her.
After the last couple of years, she was
ambitious. It’s her senior year.”
Blackburn said Sanchez managed
the race to the very end.
“The third lap, I was starting
to get excited,” he said. “She hung
with them that last lap. She gave it
everything. She gave a push at 300
(meters), and I yelled at her at 100.”
Sanchez passed the No. 4 runner
with 300 meters to go, then she was
right behind the No. 2 and No. 3
runners.
“The last 100 meters, all three of
them were right together,” Blackburn
said. “You could tell their legs were
wobbling. They gave everything they
had until the fi nish. Cydney wanted
it more. No one knew who won until
5 minutes later when they posted the
times. She ran with the potential I
knew she had. It is one of those races
I will remember for a long time.”
Macy Marquardt of Kennewick
won the race in 5:14.39, followed by
Sanchez (5:16.71), Raegan Borg of
Mead (5:16.76) and Charlotte Peder-
sen of Mt. Spokane (5:16.80).
“I’m still kind of in shock that I
am going to state,” Sanchez said.
The good, the bad
and the unknown
As a freshman, Sanchez proved
she would have a bright future with
the Bulldogs.
In track, she ran a 12:07.70 in
the 3,200 and fi nished second at the
MCC Championships. She bettered
her time by 7 second the following
week at the District 8 Champion-
ships, clocking a 12:00.09 to fi nish
seventh.
She also ran a 5:35.16 in the 1,600
and finished fourth a the MCC
Championships
In cross-country, she ran a
personal best 20:34 over 5,000
meters as a freshman, and bettered
that time with a 19:19 her sopho-
more year, placing seventh at the
District 8 Championships and earn-
ing a trip to state.
At the 2019 3A state meet, she ran
a 19:22.7 and placed 30th.
Things were looking good for
track season, until the pandemic
prompted its cancellation.
Her junior year, everything got
pushed to spring, and that’s when
things took a turn for the worse. She
ran in two races, and her times were
not what she had hoped for.
Sanchez started to experience
knee problems, then was diagnosed
with a thyroid disorder. Then she got
mono in June 2021.
“I had mono for seven months
and missed most of the cross-coun-
try season,” she said. “I had COVID
right after that, I was lucky that the
COVID was not that bad. I have had
some lingering eff ects like fatigue
and muscle weakness that prevented
me from running.”
She qualifi ed for the 2021 state
cross-country meet with the rest of
the team, but her times were more
than a minute slower than her fresh-
man year.
“It was a struggle to fi nish most of
the time,” Sanchez said of the races
she did run. “It was extremely hard
mentally. Running has been an outlet
for my mental health. That took a toll
on me.”
Sanchez started training again in
February, but said she never felt good
until about a month ago.
“I thought I had my thyroid prob-
lem fi gured out, then some of those
resurfaced again. I got it fi gured out
just in time.”
Sanchez will have a little
company at state in fellow distance
runner Jackie Garcia, who qualifi ed
for state in the 800. Garcia is No. 2
in the Hermiston record book in the
event with a time of 2:20.33 — about
4 seconds off Angelica Rodriguez’s
2010 time of 2:16.81.
“We usually do workouts
together,” Sanchez said. “She is hard-
working and deserves it.”
The family that runs
together
Sanchez star ted r unning
cross-country in the seventh grade,
but she’d run a few hundred miles
before starting school sports.
“I always ran before that with
Hurricane Track, and races with my
mom (Melody),” Sanchez said. “My
mom does 5Ks, or whatever race is
going on at the moment. My whole
family is runners. It’s pretty cool.”
Melody (nee Karschnia) and
her husband Juan Sanchez both ran
cross-country and track at Hermiston
High School, as did their son Isaac,
who graduated in 2018.
After high school, Cydney
Sanchez will attend University of
Oregon and plans on being a speech
pathologist. She will not run colle-
giately, but plans to join the school’s
running club.
As for this week, she’s taking it a
bit easy. Her state race is scheduled
for Thursday, May 26, at 5:15 p.m.
“I’m trying not to go too hard,”
she said. “I want to feel fresh for race
day.”
Blackburn said no matter how
Sanchez fi nishes at state, this spring
has been a win.
“Anything from here is a cherry
on top,” he said.
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