The Lewis-Clark State College cross country and track coach Mike Collins announced he has signed a highly touted runner from Lincolnshire, England in Sam Atkin to compete for the Warriors, starting this fall.
Atkin is a fourth-year student at Healing School in Lincolnshire.
“We feel very fortunate that Sam has chosen to come here to run and go to school,” Collins said. “He is literally one of the best young runners in the entire United Kingdom. He was ranked in 2010 as the No. 1 runner in the 5,000 meters in the U17 group and No. 3 all-time at this distance for this age group. “
Collins added Atkin was ranked No. 3 in the mile for the U20 age bracket and No. 2 in the U17 for the 10,000 meters.
“His personal best in the 3,000 of 8:20 would break our current school record in this event by almost 10 seconds and would have been the winning time at our indoor nationals this past winter,” Collins said. “Adding him to our lineup with returning all-American Dave Marks, outdoor 5K and 10K qualifier Jimmy Oribo as well as an already talent-laden recruiting class and returners, makes things look very interesting for this fall in our drive to win a national title.”
Atkin plans on studying Kinesiology at LCSC.
