COLLINSVILLE – For Alton High jumper and sprinter Ahmad Sanders, he felt he had good performances at the recent Collinsville Invitational meet at Kahok Stadium. But he also feels that he could have done better.
The Redbird junior did well, finishing third in the long jump with a distance of 21 feet, 4.25 inches and was part of the 4×400 meter relay team, running the second leg as the team finished second with a time of 3:26.41. But Sanders feels there’s always room for improvement.
“Yeah, a good performance,” Sanders said in a interview shortly after the conclusion of the meet, which saw the Redbirds finish in second place. “I felt like I did good this meet, but I could have done better.”
With the final meets of the season – the Southwestern Conference completion and IHSA State series meets – coming up, Sanders feels the Redbirds have worked hard and done well in practice, but were hindered by the streak of bad weather in March and April that played havoc with every team.
“I feel good,” Sanders said. “We’ve been doing good in practice, good enough to get to the level we are. But we had bad weather, so we couldn’t do what we’re doing now.”
And with the weather finally turning around and becoming warmer, Sanders does think that his team is starting to hit its stride at the right time.
“Yeah, we’re peaking at the right time,” Sanders said. “We’re way better than before, because we were a little off. But now, we’re getting into it with the team. A team effort.”
The IHSA Sectional meet coming up shortly and Sanders feels good about his performances, but is prepared to go to work and improve.
“I feel good,” Sanders said, “but I could improve on long jump. “If I get my legs up a little bit more, I can get farther. And for sprinting, I feel like I can just push myself a little bit more.”
And with that strong desire to work and improve, you can expect Ahmad Sanders to be another key contributor to Alton’s postseason track success.
