DAVID "POPPY" SANDERSON
- May 1
- 1 min read
Updated: May 18
Trenton Central High School -- Special Contributor
Some greatness is not defined by furthest throw, fastest time, highest vault or longest jump. The greatness of the Mercer County track and field community transcends talent and is built on commitment, effort and humility and for the last half century has no better embodiment than Trenton High’s David ‘’Poppy’’ Sanderson.
Officially, he has been the athletic trainer at Trenton Central High School, a product of North Carolina A&T and The University of Pennsylvania’s Sports Fellowship Program. But these are just lines on a page, titles that give little definition to the character of a man, the tireless effort, the omnipresence that has made him one of the backbones of the Mercer County track community since the 1970’s.
His colleague and longtime friend Al Jennings labeled him ‘’Mr TCHS’’ for what has done for the high school’s sports teams from responsibility for uniforms, caring and preventing injuries and even delving into the psychology of sports, assisting coaches within a large scope of athlete’s issues on and off the field. This has included athletes all over the Mercer County region with one single common theme: tireless kindness.
It is Sanderson’s determination to get the most out of our community both on and off the track that has made him an irreplaceable cog in our schools; a teacher, a trainer, a psychiatrist, an advocate, a sage and always a friend to our athletes.
