The 5-foot-3 sophomore raced to the Division 1 Lower Peninsula individual state championship this past season with a time of 17:18.74, leading the Panthers to the state title as a team. She also won the Portage Invitational and Michigan State Spartan Invitational among her nine victories, the most impressive coming at the Nike Midwest Regional, where she clocked a 16:47.90 at the LaVern Gibson course in Indiana. Sachs finished fifth at the Champs Sports Midwest Regional Championships before a foot injury slowed her momentum at Nike Cross Nationals and prevented her from running at the Champs Sports National Championships.
Sachs has maintained a 4.00 GPA in the classroom. She will begin her junior year of high school this fall.
A mentor in the school’s L.I.N.K.S. Peer to Peer program, Sachs has provided assistance as a friend and role model for students with special needs, assisting them with socialization, independence and age-appropriate behavior. She has also volunteered locally with Leaders of the 21st Century, a non-profit whose mission is to develop civic-minded youth leaders in urban communities, and she’s donated her time on behalf of the Wheatland Music Organization along with participating in the West Ottawa Musical Theater program.
