Although Sam Roberson has a brief history in North Carolina running, he is having a big impact on the state. Sam attended Brentwood Academy in Tennessee his first two years of high school before moving to Raleigh for the start of his junior year. Already a good cross country runner, with a solid sophomore PR of 16:31 for 5K, he continued to progress steadily last fall, dropping to 16:01. The real breakthrough came in the spring, when Sam ran to 9:23 for the 3200, signaling that he would be a force to be reckoned with this fall.
True to form, Sam started off his season with a 15:47 at the WNC Carnival, then improved that to 15:25 at the adidas XC Challenge this past weekend. His times show a distinct preference for longer races and cross country, which he confirms in the video below. What I found most interesting about his interview was the confidence with which he spoke of the future, using phrases like "I plan to" instead of "I hope to" or "I want to." Check it out for yourself:
So far, he is certainly backing up his confident words with confident running, as he starts his races aggressively and doesn't seem to back down from anyone. Time will eventually tell whether the force of his positive thinking can make his desired future happen, but any way you look at it Sam is putting together a great season. Kind of makes you wonder what he has in store for the spring season, doesn't it?
