Sanders’ rise to stardom
By: Isaiah Nolan
SEATTLE- Seku Sanders’ rise to the top wasn’t easy. Seku is currently a senior at O’Dea high school in Seattle. He runs cross country for the school and is one the best cross-country runners in Seattle.
Seku grew up in Japan. He lived there for almost his whole childhood then he moved to Seattle to pursue something bigger. He wanted to pursue soccer. He grew up loving soccer and never even thought about taking cross country seriously.
Sanders says, “I originally didn’t take cross country seriously. Soccer always had my heart. My original plan was to pursue soccer and make a career out of it and run cross country on the side to keep me conditioned and in shape."
Due to some struggles, Sanders decided to hang up the cleats. He switched passions.
Sanders says, “[Coach Bazzi] really helped me and challenged me to take cross country seriously. He worked with me and was patient with me.”
Bazzi was there for Sanders. He trained him every day and ran with him to help Sanders develop. Bazzi was a big reason why Sanders is who he is today.
Sanders faced adversity last season when he got injured. Bazzi helped Sanders rehabilitate his injury and was patient with him and worked with him day in and day out. Sanders eventually got back to 100 percent and was ready to do some damage in state.
Cross country has helped shape Sanders into who he is today. Sanders says, “cross country is a mental sport. You must have grit and toughness. You must be able to push yourself to exhaustion and be able to battle that mental block. Cross country has helped me develop these traits and apply them to real world scenarios.”
Sanders is never satisfied. This upcoming season he has been putting in the work. He as added some key components to his training regime to put him ahead of his competition and help him succeed.
Sanders says, “I recently have added visualization to my training. Being able to overcome these mental challenges really can help me in the long run. I have also started monitoring what I eat. I have tried to control what I eat and overall eat healthier. I used to try and just carb load but this year I’m going to stay on top of my diet.”
Sanders has faced many things in his cross-country career and has overcome all of it. Sanders’ mental toughness and grit to succeed ultimately sets him aside as one of the top cross-country runners in the greater Seattle area.
Comentarios