Streaks Alumni Profile- Jane (Miller) Sands 1970

Today’s Streaks Alumni Profile features Jane (Miller) Sands from the Galesburg HS’s Class of 1970.

Jane was a sports writer for the Peoria Journal-Star during the era when local newspapers were the heart beat of communities. She became highly respected for her coverage of area high school sports, and nationally for her coverage of auto racing. 

Her coverage of girls basketball in the Peoria (and Galesburg) area was thorough and professional. Anything you wanted to know about girls basketball, Jane was the resource. Her insight into games, teams, and rivalries was always spot on. The combination of her knowledge, writing skills, and her passion made her the best. It never seemed like it was a “job” for her, she was invested in high school sports. 

Not all was good with Jane. As a coach, the worst feeling was when she was doing a preview of the Sectional Tourney, if she was doing a feature on Galesburg. In the preview of the tourney, she always did a feature on the team she thought would lose, figuring she could do a feature on the other team after they won. Fortunately we had a nice stretch where we didn’t have many features in the preview!!

Favorite Teachers/Classes

Mr. Reuter (German, a favorite class)

Miss Hinchliff (sophomore English, a favorite class)

Mr. Beck, Rhetoric (a favorite class) 

Mr. Spencer, chemistry - not a favorite class but he was a good teacher. 

All of my teachers were excellent, really. 

Sports/Activities

No sports - girls were not allowed at that time and I am not athletically inclined. 

I was in sophomore choir, was in a play at some point and in the kickline for the Reflectavue for three years, plus various clubs and such. 

I never missed a basketball game, home or away. Those were great times. 

Education after GHS

I graduated from Illinois State in 1977 with a degree in mass communication. 

Career

I was a sportswriter at the Journal Star from 1980 until 2013. It was honestly my dream job. 

German Club

Today

I'm retired and living in San Antonio with my husband, Mike, and two cats. There are never enough hours in the day. 

Advice for Today’s Students/Athletes

Take advantage of all the opportunities that are available to you. There is so much to learn and do. 

Three People You Interviewed that You Would Like to Sit Down With Now

There are so many! Fortunately, I have had some opportunities lately to see or speak to quite a few athletes and coaches from the past. 

One would be Joe Girardi, former MLB catcher. He was a senior the first year I covered baseball and that team was a lot of fun. 

Another would be Carla McGhee, former Manual basketball player. I never really had a chance to talk to her about her time at Tennessee and her Olympics experience. 

Finally, Todd Hursey, former Richwoods basketball coach. He’s been part of two state championship teams since I’ve seen him last and I’d love to catch up with him about that. 

If You Could, Three Questions for John Thiel

This is a hard one. I guess I would want to know how the national TV broadcast leading up to our game with Pekin came about. That was such a cool thing. And I'd like to know if he ever got in trouble for all the technical fouls he used to get. And were the refs really that bad?

General Thoughts

I really enjoyed my time at GHS and still have dear friends from those years. Go Streaks!