Signs that Justyce Sanders was destined for track and field greatness were not immediately obvious.
At her first competitive track meet, she was unnerved by the bang of the starter’s gun. While others took a sprinter’s stance in the starter’s blocks, she stood upright with her hands over her ears. Then, she didn’t move.
“The gun went off and I thought it was real. They had to take me off the track,” Sanders said.
She soon learned to break at the sound of the gun, but she went at her own, leisurely pace.
“We had to give her the concept that, ‘Hey, the intent of this is to beat the person next to you. You don’t want to come in last,’” her mother K.Marie Sanders recalled.
Coming in first is now the norm for the MICDS senior.
After becoming the 200-meter and 400-meter state champion in Class 5 last spring, Sanders took to the national stage in August and won the Junior Olympics 400-meter dash in Des Moines, IA.
“I expected to be on the (Junior Olympics) podium, but my goal was to get first. When it happened, I was surprised and happy at the same time. I thought, ‘I actually did it,’” said Sanders, who won with a personal best time of 53.59.
High School Ascension
As a sophomore at MICDS, Sanders emerged as the primary, Class 4 competition for Brooke Beck of Pleasant Hill, a three-time state champion and current Oklahoma State runner. At the 2024 state meet, Sanders led the 400-meter dash most of the way, but Beck overtook her in the final strides.
Both ran personal bests on the state’s biggest stage.
“She came up to me afterwards and said, ‘Good job, you helped me get to my PR, and I thought that was so cool,’” Sanders recalled. “I was right there to get in first (place), and I knew that the next year, I could definitely get it.”
Her junior year began with a surprise as MICDS was moved from Class 4 into the state’s top class, Class 5.
“I expected the top runners to be in Class 5, but I tried not to worry about it. I knew there would be great competition in any class,” Sanders said.
Despite the advance in class, Sanders won the 400-meter state title with a time of 54.55. Then, 32 minutes after stepping off the podium, she became the 200-meter state champion with a blistering time of 23.94.
“I didn’t really pay attention to how close the times were in between (races). Maybe it was the adrenaline, but I just stepped off the podium, got water, tried to get 10 or 15 minutes of recovery time and then walked to the check-in for the 200.
Sanders holds the MICDS school record time in both the 200 and 400, and for good measure, also claims the 100-meter record at 11.92, even though she did not run the 100 at the state meet.
“For the 100, you have to be super quick and if you have a bad start, it’s hard to get back in the race. For the 400, you know it’s going to hurt, so you have to strategize how you’re going to recover. My favorite is the 200 because it’s a mix of the two.”
Sanders also runs the first leg of her team’s 4 x 400 relay, a spot that she prefers.
“I like to get it over with. When I stand off to the side, I get anxious, so I like to just do it and give my team a good start,” she said.
Winning with flying colors
To deal with the wait time and anxiety that accompanies high-stakes track meets, Sanders brings along a set of markers and a coloring book.
“I think it calms me. I can just relax, not think about things, and color,” Sanders said. “I get so focused on it. It has to be a certain way. It gets very intricate.”
Coloring has become a hobby that extends beyond the track.
“At restaurants, when my younger brother gets a kids meal, I’ll take his menu and crayons and start coloring,” she said.
Justyce Sanders Day
A few weeks after her brilliant performance at the state meet, Sanders received a surprise phone call from St. Ann mayor Amy Poelker.
“She posted on Facebook about my accomplishments and then reached out and said she’d like to do a proclamation,” Sanders recalled. “I thought, ‘That’s so crazy.'”
In a ceremony at City Hall, the city of St. Ann proclaimed July 7 as Justyce Sanders Day. She received a document with the word ‘Proclamation’ along the top, with a seal and signature at the bottom.
“I told my parents, “My first name, middle name (Eunique) and last name all have seven letters. It’s so cool that my day is 7/7.”
Sanders is planning to start a foundation and wants to spend her day helping others.
“I want to give back to the community through school or sports,” she said.
Future Aspirations
Sanders has Olympic aspirations and sees United States track stars Gabby Thomas and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone as role models. She recently read McLaughlin-Levrone’s book, Far Beyond Gold.
“She writes about her experiences and her relationship with track,” Sanders said. “I think about how both of them were once like me, and that I could be like them one day.”
Sanders, who has several college visits scheduled, plans to participate in track and field at the collegiate level while majoring in biology.
“I want to become a doctor or a biomedical scientist,” she said.
In her spare time, Sanders loves to read, write and dance. A few years ago, she and a cousin entered a World Dance Floor competition while playing the video game, Let’s Dance.
“We got on the leaderboard. We were so excited,” Sanders said.
And she has been climbing leaderboards ever since.
This year, the reigning 200 and 400 state champion wants to make more strides in her highly decorated career, including an attempt at hurdles.
“Since I was younger I’ve wanted to do hurdles, so I’m going to give it a try this year. We hadn’t found a coach that can help me do it, but we have one now,” she said.
And from the fear of the starting gun to the development of her competitive fire, there seems to be no hurdle Sanders cannot overcome.
“When her desire to win kicked in, she kept getting better and better,” K.Marie Sanders said. “Over time, she became one of the best.”