Vincent Peterson-Sand (his friends call him Vince) crossed the finish line of an outstanding high school cross country career on Nov. 4 at Michigan International Speedway. His final step landed him in 16th place in the MHSAA Division 1 race, capping off a brilliant senior season and helping lead his team to a sixth place finish at MIS.
Let’s take a big step back, all the way to the starting line.
“Growing up I played many sports (basketball, football, soccer and baseball) and my main sport was basketball up until high school,” said Peterson-Sand, who was the starting point guard for Slauson. “My friend actually convinced me to go to cross country practice in the sixth grade. At first, it was more of a social thing and I did it to hang out with friends, but I fell in love with the sport.”
Peterson-Sand said that sports were a huge deal at Slauson and everyone wanted to be on the “5 Sports Banner” (playing a sport all five seasons). “I attribute this involvement in sports at Slauson to teachers and coaches like Rusty Fuller and John Strite who to this day have had a huge impact on me as an athlete, student, and person,” says Peterson-Sand. “It’s not a coincidence that 6/7 Pioneer runners at the state meet went to Slauson.”
He not only loved it, but excelled at it – quickly becoming a standout runner for the Pioneers.
As a sophomore, Peterson-Sand finished 76th at the state meet with a time of 16:34:34 and the team finished in 11th place. Last year he ran to a team-best 46th place finish with a time of 16:25.44 as Pioneer moved up to fifth place in the team standings. His time of 15:29.7 as a senior was his fastest at MIS. He also placed fourth at the SEC championships and third at the Lake Erie Regional this past season.
This year was very special for Peterson-Sand.
“After all the seniors graduated last year, I didn’t think I would be as close with the team but this was far from the truth,” he said. “The team has become super close this year, and I’ve become good friends with a lot of the younger runners who have stepped up to play a huge role in our team this year.
“When I was an underclassman, the upperclassmen did a really good job of making me feel welcome on varsity and I think this gave me the confidence to succeed. I tried to do the same with the underclassmen this year and set the team up for success for years to come. Some of my best memories from this year were the bus rides back from big wins we had at the FGR meet, SEC’s, Jackson, both jamborees and Regionals.”
When Peterson-Sand steps to the starting line of a race he is “always focused on the competition.”
“Coach Sleeman always says, ‘focus on the place and the time will follow,’” he says. “It feels so much easier and more fun to chase a person instead of a time. I always hate it when people obsess over their splits, it feels like all they’re thinking about is the time instead of actually competing. The whole sport is about beating your competition so when you focus on just the time you’re not really playing the sport.”
Before the race, Peterson-Sand prepares himself for the pain and tells himself when the pain truly kicks in during the third mile that’s when he needs to push. “Once I feel that pain I know it’s time to pick it up,” he says. “It’s just an automatic mindset that I need to get myself into before the race.”
He stays motivated to run by “trying to take each day one at a time.”
“It’s easy to get overwhelmed or tired when you think about running again tomorrow and then the next day and over and over again,” he says. “If you just focus on doing what you have to do today it’s a lot easier to handle the strenuous training.”
Vince, 17, is the son of Sharon Sand and Gabe Peterson and has a 3.94 GPA. He’s also in the A2 Sports Media Club and loves to spend time with friends and travel. “I went to camp AGQ for 10 years and was a counselor in the summer going into junior year,” he said. “I didn’t go this year because I didn’t want to miss cross country summer practice for half the summer.”
Running cross country in a program like Pioneer is a full-year commitment.
During the off-season, and especially in the winter, Peterson-Sand lifts weights six days a week which helps him get stronger and helps prevent injury. “I’ve had a lot of injuries that have prevented me from running throughout high school,” he said. “Freshmen year I had a knee injury that caused me to not be able to run a single mile during the majority of the winter. This knee pain lingered for the first couple years of high school but strengthening my hips and quads through lifting made this pain a lot better.”
During the season, Pioneer has practice Monday-Saturday all year long.
Peterson-Sand, who plans on going to college but hasn’t decided if he wants to continue his competitive running career, has advice for young runners.
“Enjoy every opportunity you get to race and be with your teammates because I promise you will miss it,” he says. “You can always race after high school but it’s rare to race for something that’s greater than just yourself. See every practice and every time you run or deciding whether to run as an opportunity to get better. If you put your mind to it you can be good at this sport.”
Peterson-Sand is proof of that.
