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Springlake-Earth four-time State XC qualifier, Josh Samaron
Springlake-Earth senior, Josh Samaron, wrapped up his cross country career earlier this year, making his fourth trip to the State Cross Country Meet in Round Rock, Tx.
“It feels good to have been able to compete against the best in the state for four consecutive years,” he said. “Not many people can say they have gone to run at the State cross country meet four times.”
He added, “My whole family has gone to run at the State Meet. Every generation has gone to run, so it was nice to be able to extend that streak.”
For Samaron this trip made him a four-time state qualifier, as he qualified twice as a freshman and sophomore, as part of the Wolverine cross country team that placed fifth overall his freshman year and third his sophomore year.
As a sophomore, Samaron ran his best time at the State Meet, clocking a time of 17:52.94.
Samaron also qualified his junior and senior year as an individual. As a junior he placed 40 th with a time of 17:53.72, and this past season, as a senior, he finished 55 th with a time of 18:47.7.
“This wasn’t my best performance this year, but I just enjoyed being able to go out there and run one more time,” he said.
Samaron explained that the thing he’s enjoyed most about running cross country for Springlake-Earth is really being able to compete and travel to a lot of places.
“It’s been great being able to show the gift my family has been given and really just show everybody in the State where Springlake-Earth is at and what we can do,” he stated.
He talked about representing Springlake-Earth at the highest level, saying, “It means a lot to me to be able to represent my school and community at the highest level. Having lived here my whole life, its nice to be able to go places and represent for my school and community.”
The senior talked about how his coaches pushed him and helped him prepare for the season, saying, “The coaches pushed me a lot. It was really good training to run against Taytum [Goodman] everyday, because she is the best in the state. It really helped me to compete with her everyday and that set me up to compete with everyone I came across on my way to State.”
Samaron talked about the support he has received from his family over his career, saying, “My dad is one of my biggest supporters. He really helped me in the off-season and summers, pushing me to get mileage in on the treadmill before the season starts. Without him, I don’t think I would have been in the position I was in.”
He added, “The rest of the family also gave me a lot of advice on what to do and not do during a race.”
Samaron hopes to continue running cross country at the next level.