Bouncing back from injury for an impressive junior season, Apollo’s Chloe Sandefur’s efforts earned her the title of the Owensboro Times 2023 Girls Track and Field Player of the Year.
Sandefur had a huge year, being the Regional Champion and City-County Champion in both the 100m & 300m hurdles. She shattered Apollo’s school records in those events, finishing with a 15.26 and 47.09 respectively—while her 15.26 in the 100m was the fastest time in history by an Owensboro-area prep athlete.
She also went to score in the top-eight in four events at the State Championship, placing eighth in the 100m hurdles, seventh in the long jump, sixth in the 300m hurdles, and fourth in the 4x100m Relay alongside her teammates. Chloe was very happy with how her season played out, honored to be able to do what she loves again and be recognized for her efforts.
“After losing my season last year due to injury I was just excited to be out there doing what I love…” Sandefur said. “This award shows me that my hard work this season didn’t go unnoticed and shows me the extent of my improvement. So it means a lot.”
Her goal for this season was to improve as much as she possibly could to make it to state, so she could then have a good base going into summer training and into her senior season. Being able to do so alongside her teammates was just the cherry on top.
“Another goal that was something I strived for all year was to just carry my weight for the team,” Sandefur said. “All my teammates worked extremely hard and I wanted to be the best I could for them.”
Sandefur said that winning city-county this year was also a small goal of the season, but it was nice to have that going into the region where she was excited to compete at an even higher level.
“Region was where it mattered the most,” Sandefur said. “I had an extremely good race in the 100mh with a big PR, but probably ran the ugliest 300mhs anyone’s ever seen. Overall I was just stoked to make it to state in four events then placing in every one of them just showed me hard work really pays off and the amount of work you put in makes all the difference.”
Chloe said that her teammates and family’s support to keep going even with all the obstacles along the way is what has helped her become a special athlete, saying she’s really blessed with friends who have their priorities straight and are always working to succeed. She went on, saying that being surrounded by that has a positive effect on her.
Her teammates are also part of one of her favorite memories this season, when Sandefur and company cheered on fellow Eagle Thomas Ashby in one of the biggest moments of his career.
“One of my favorite memories this season is when the entire team was cheering on a fellow teammate Thomas Ashby during a steeple meet at Apollo,” Sandefur said. “I just remember everyone being so excited and surrounding each other in cheers and motivating him to keep going. Finding out he became ranked first in the nation and we all helped him along the way was a surreal feeling. It just made me appreciate the team environment so much more.”
Along with her teammates and family Chloe made sure to thank Apollo’s coaching staff, who helped her reach a new level after missing plenty of time due to injury coming into the year.
“This year out of the blue my team received a new sprint coach who ended up being a hurdle, jumps, sprint and everything else there is in a track coach,” Sandefur said. “So I owe Coach Breamer a huge thank you and I’m positive if he didn’t show up and put in the extra hours after almost every practice to show me new hurdle drills, or long jump technique I wouldn’t have gotten close to where I ended up this season. So thank you [to him] for always being happy to help.”
This year has meant a lot to Sandefur, as she now looks ahead to her goals for next season, which is to qualify for new balance nationals and hopefully shave off quite a few seconds off the hurdle events she competed in.
“This year leaves me extremely motivated going into my senior year,” Sandefur said. “I expect big things from next season and I’m going to work really hard to get there.”
