Madill all-state senior cross country runner Isabel Sanchez signed a letter of intent Wednesday to run for Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Weatherford next year.
“I just felt like I was part of the team,” Sanchez said helped her make Southwestern her college choice.
Sanchez paced the Madill Lady Wildcats throughout the season that culminated in a fifth-place finish at the state meet in Class 4A Oct. 30 in Edmond.
The senior was 10th individually in the state meet after her Class 4A regional championship. She set a personal record in the 5K run during the meet of champions in Shawnee Nov. 6.
“They (Madill coaches) believed in me and all the workouts and stuff, they pushed me to my limits,” Sanchez said of how the Madill coaching staff guided her in her high school career.
“Running with my girls,” She said was her favorite part of the sport.
“Isabel will be a great addition to the Southwestern program,” Madill cross country head coach Cale Eidson said of Sanchez and her college choice. “She’s a hard worker, very dedicated to what she does, and a very coachable athlete and person. We’re lucky to still have her one more season of track with her.”
“Give it your all, because you won’t have much time,” is Isabel’s advice to younger runners in the sport.
“This is a really, really neat thing. A really cool thing,” Madill athletics director Brett Weiberg said in his opening remarks at the signing ceremony Wednesday. “You’re in a very, very elite group of kids.”
Weiberg referenced a statistic that stated 1.3 percent of all high school athletes across America sign to participate in NCAA Division-II sports. Southwestern is in the NCAA Division-II and a member of the Great American Conference.
Sanchez said she will pursue a nursing degree on the SWOSU campus.
Click to Watch Isabel Sanchez interview
Click to Watch Story on KTEN-TV
Click to Watch Story on KXII-TV (4:08 mark in video)
photos
Sanchez Family: Mario Sanchez, Josue Sanchez (standing); Rosa Espinosa, Isabel Sanchez and Luis Sanchez (seated)
Sanchez Family with coach Eidson (far right, standing)
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