Tokay’s Sandoval a leader of the pack
Accomplishments: Andres Sandoval has been very busy the last few days.
On Thursday night, Sandoval was one of Tokay High’s Class of 2017 who participated in the school’s commencement ceremony at the University of the Pacific. Today, he’s off to Clovis to compete at the 99th annual CIF State Track and Field Championships at Veterans Memorial Stadium at
Buchanan High. Sandoval will race in the boys’ 1,600-meter race.
Sandoval reached the state meet by placing at the Sac-Joaquin Section Masters finals at Elk Grove High last Friday. In the final lap of the 1,600-meter, Sandoval broke free from a pack of runners, passed three of six runners for a third place finish at 4 minutes, 14.54 seconds. The top three advance in each event to today’s and Saturday’s state meet.
“When I was in middle of the pack, I was scared,” Sandoval said. “These guys came out to race. The pace was very fast.”
The race came down to the final lap. Sandoval broke free from a herd of runners after hearing shouts of motivation from a variety of people in the stands.
“All I could hear is my family, friends and coaches screaming at me that if I don’t take off, I’m not going to state,” Sandoval said. “I needed to go now.”
In the process of setting the new school record in the 1,600-meter, Sandoval also surpassed his father, Jose, in the same event that he ran in high school. Jose’s time was 4:16.
“I wanted to break that time,” Sandoval said. “It was now or never. I gave it my all.”
Preparing for graduation, plus taking part in light practices for the state meet was challenging for Sandoval.
“The last 48 hours has been crazy,” Sandoval said.
In addition to lighter practices in preparing for the state meet, Sandoval has had to watch what he eats, including before and after Friday’s graduation ceremony.
“Some foods can make me so heavy,” Sandoval said. “I’ve been eating light foods like fish, bananas ... just being careful on what I’ve been eating. We wanted to keep our legs rolling but not so much where we burn out.”
After this weekend’s state meet, Sandoval will begin preparing for the next level of running in college. He will be attending Holy Names University in Oakland on a scholarship. Along with majoring in business management, Sandoval will be running for the Hawks’ men’s cross-country and track and field teams.
“I’ve been thinking about how I’m going to prepare to race in cross-country,” said Sandoval, who will be running 5.1 to 6 miles in college instead of 3.1 in high school. “The college said for me to focus on high school. Then once everything is done, they would get me ready for the cross-country season.”
Sandoval is not the only Lodi area resident who will be attending Holy Names on a scholarship. Former Lodi High girls basketball player Monica Valenzuela, who graduated on Wednesday, will be attending the university, and play for the college’s women’s basketball team.
This is the second state meet for Sandoval to compete this school year. Last November, Sandoval and Aldo Perez, also a recent Tokay High graduate who was also on the Tigers’ boys track and field team, competed at the CIF State Cross-Country Championships in Fresno.
Sandoval is the only Lodi area student-athlete who has been named the News-Sentinel’s Athlete of the week twice in this school year. Last October, Sandoval was selected after a standout performance for the Tokay boys cross-country team at the Tri-City Athletic League’s No. 2 meet at Lodi Lake.