I felt like I had a much bigger impact with the team during my sophomore year.”

Zach Sanford

Former Rochelle track and field standout Zach Sanford launched his name into the record books during his sophomore season at the University of Dubuque. With an emphasis on improving his speed and technique, Sanford set several personal records in each of his four events and was close to qualifying for nationals during both the indoor and outdoor seasons.

As Sanford gears up for his third year with the Dubuque men’s track and field team, his goals include advancing to nationals while improving his personal bests in the weight throw and the discus throw, two events that Sanford made significant strides in during his sophomore season with the Spartans. The RTHS alum and former IHSA state qualifier currently ranks fourth all-time at Dubuque in the weight throw (17.65 meters) and eighth all-time in the discus (47.53 meters).

“I felt like I had a much bigger impact with the team during my sophomore year,” Sanford said. “I lost a lot of weight and I was able to get faster, which translated to throwing a lot farther. I was scared and intimidated as a freshman, but coming back as a sophomore, I knew it was my time and I wanted to see what I could do. I was still on the younger side, but my teammates and I all took on a leadership role and we were very good at planning things out ourselves.”

Sanford’s breakout performance in the indoor season came during the UW-Platteville Invitational in February. It was there that the former Hub thrower took fourth in the weight throw and third in the shot put with a new PR of 14.64 meters (48 feet ½ inches), which remains his PR as of now. After finishing seventh in the weight throw at the American Rivers Conference Championship, Sanford set a PR of 17.65 meters (57 feet 11 inches) in the weight throw during the UW-Platteville Final Qualifying Meet in March, where he finished in fifth place.

“The weight throw is becoming more and more of my favorite event and I’m working toward some lofty goals there,” Sanford said. “The discus throw has become a huge favorite of mine during the outdoor season and I’ve been focusing on that event a lot harder. I practiced a lot more discus during the second half of the season and I’ve spent most of my summer training for the discus. My junior year will be about what I can do in the weight throw and the discus.”

Sanford competed in three events including hammer throw, shot put and discus during the outdoor season. The RTHS alum earned eight outdoor starts and set a new PR of 47.69 meters (156 feet 5 inches) in the hammer throw during the Mississippi River Rumble, where he placed eighth. At the 2024 Battle of the Bluffs in May, Sanford fired the discus 47.53 meters (155 feet 11 inches) to finish sixth and set yet another PR on the season.

“I was more of a shot put thrower in high school and I didn’t care too much about discus,” Sanford said. “I’ve become more technical over the last two years and I’ve become a lot stronger, so I’ve started to run with discus and I’ve taken off from there… During the indoor season, I was setting new PRs every single week and I was getting better in practice. I started working on discus a lot during the outdoor season and that’s where I saw improvements each week. I fell just short of the national meet, but I was really happy with how I finished the year.”

Sanford, who’s currently studying science in secondary education at Dubuque, was named both an Academic All-Conference honoree and an USTFCCCA (United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association) All-Academic honoree during his sophomore year. The former Hub student-athlete, who also played football and basketball during his time at RTHS, said his goal is to graduate with a bachelor’s degree and become a chemistry teacher.

“Not only do I want to go to nationals next year, but I want to do everything I can to finish in the top 8 and become an All-American in the weight throw,” Sanford said. “My goal for the outdoor season is qualifying for nationals and since I’m on the top-10 list in both the weight throw and the discus, my goals are also to be number one on both of those lists before I graduate.”