Running for Nebraska: First Race

September 4, 2010

First Race

It went, decent. The course had a lot of grass and was a bunch of back and forth running and had a lot of turns. My time wasn't the greatest, but it was a small meet and the point was to get experience, which I can come away saying I've gained :) I was 23rd in 20:41. We won on both sides and scored 1-5 for the woman. The course was wet and I ran in spikes. We have this week off from racing and are back in action for our own meet which is a 6k on September 18th. I'm looking forward to racing again and improving hopefully!

2 comments:

Katie said...: Good job Sam! I am really proud of you! Just remember that this was your first race in college...it is a STARTING point. This race doesn't determine your season. You are just getting used to college life so give yourself a break. I love you and miss you tons! Looking good in the Nebraska uniform by the way haha. :); September 4, 2010 at 11:21 PM
Anonymous said...: Great job Sam!! :) love hearing about your races. can I ask, how does the 5k compare to the 6k? <3 Anna; July 19, 2011 at 11:28 PM

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Why Nebraska?

When I began the college search I knew that I wanted to continue running at the NCAA Division 1 level. I desired a school rich in pride for its sports with good academics as well. I found this in Lincoln, NE. College sports are a very big deal in the state of Nebraska and it shows in the school's facilities and coaching staff. I picked Nebraska because of all it had to offer me as a student athlete and because of the at-home feeling I got on my visit and with the team. Quite a few of my teammates have become a lot faster since their high school PR's and this was a good indicator to me that I could trust in the training tendencies of my long time Nebraska Cross Country coach Jay Dirksen. A graduate of South Dakota State in '68, Jay was an All American steeplechaser and has coached at Nebraska for 28 years producing a total of 3 NCAA National Champions, 1 U.S Olympic Trials Champion, 20 Cross Country NCAA All Americans, 39 NCAA Track and Field All Americans, 5 Big XII Cross Country Team Titles, 6 NCAA Regional Titles and 22 NCAA Cross Country Teams.

Before Nebraska

I ran four years of Cross Country and Track for Great Oak High School under coaches Doug Soles and Daniel Noble. I was a four year letter winner in both sports and went to Nike Cross Nationals all four years. Some notable awards include #1 Freshman in Riverside County in 2006 and Freshman of the Year, as well as the #3 Sophomore in 2007, winner of the Long Beach Invitational, the Mt. SAC D1 sophomore girls champion and Sophomore of the Year. My Junior and Senior seasons I was a team captain and the Most Improved athlete on the track team, Junior and Senior of the Year as well as 1st Team All-League in the SWL, a scholar athlete, a member of the 2008 Riverside County Academic Team winner (gohs xc), part of the CIF Southern Section team champion in 2009, and the tie breaker of Great Oak's 2009 Runner Up accolades at the California State Meet. In track I was the Inland Empire 1600m Champ, held senior records in the 1600m (5:02.54), 3200m (11:09.10), and 3 miles (17:19, xc); and was a California High School Heisman Finalist in 2010.