The past school/sports year has been a historic one for Dexter’s Brandon Anderson. He’s done something that probably only a handful of people can say they’ve accomplished.
As a junior at Dexter High School, Anderson went all-state in three sports, which is a great achievement anytime, anywhere. As this summer progresses, The Sun Times News (STN) knows that some stories from the past school year have been overlooked, but these we needed to follow up.
STN recently asked Anderson about the past year and state qualifying in three sports.
“I’m still shocked, I’m not going to lie,” he said. “I didn’t really realize the accomplishment of going across the state in three different sports until someone mentioned it’s only been done a couple of times.”
He does cross country and track and field (two different sports). He ran the 4 x 400 meter relay, the 4 x 800 meter relay and the 800 meter open race. Last year he also joined Swim and Dive as a diver.
Brandon Anderson, the diver. Photo by Dawn McCann
Explaining all three, he said:
“I’ve been qualifying for the states in cross-country since my freshman year. It was fun representing Dexter in my freshman and sophomore years because we qualified as a team. At this point in my cross career, I see going to the states as nothing more than a business. As if I expected to be there.”
“Before every competition I think about how difficult the race is going to be and to be honest I just want to run, but once the starting gun is fired I have to run my race. My cross country best is 15:41 and my best state run was last fall when I finished 12th in 15:50.”
“Going to States to dive was kind of crazy. I remember my coach telling me that if I just tried, I had the potential to make it to the States. I didn’t really believe him. As I watched divers that I knew would make it to the states by doing three and a half and two and a half inward dives, my only thought was, yes, this is death. But I think the coach was right. I really started to focus on my more difficult dives leading up to the regional dives. My goal is to do well and get a good result on every dive. I never thought I would have the opportunity to visit states in my freshman year in sports. I think I placed 6th at the regionals and 24th overall at the state meeting out of 36.”
“When I crossed the finish line in the 800-meter open race at the Grand Ledge regional track and field event this spring and realized I had qualified for three states, I was kind of blown away. My finish time at the regionals was 1:56.2, four seconds faster than my previous personal record. At the state railway race, I ran a time of 1:56.3 in the open 800 race and finished 14th out of a total of 30 runners. Ever since I finished my freshman year, my goal has been to make it to the states for track and field. And that made me realize how good it is when you really put your mind and heart into something.”
“I think one of the biggest motivators for me is when I look at the Athletic.net website and Dexter High School’s cross-country and track records and I see my name up there. That’s pretty awesome.”
STN reflected on his dedication, time and commitment and asked if he would have any support and help along the way. Referring to his coaches, teammates and friends, he referenced upper-class mentors like Josh Lamb, as well as his parents and family, including his grandparents, who he said came from Toledo to almost every event.
Looking ahead to his upcoming senior year, STN asked him what’s next.
“Try doing the same, I think,” he replied. “I hope that we can again qualify as a team for cross country this fall. I haven’t spoken to Coach Lamb about it yet, but I’m hoping to try qualifying for the states in another individual competition alongside the 800.”
Brandon Anderson, the cross-country runner. Photo by Mike Williamson
Comments are closed.