SUDDEN SAM: Princeton University men’s track star Sam Rodman, right, speeds around a corner earlier this month in an 800-meter race at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Ore. Recently graduated Rodman placed fourth in the 800 at the NCAA meet in 1:46.85, breaking a previous school record and setting a personal best. Rodman, who earned first-team All-American honors with his placing, is the highest finisher in the 800 at the NCAAs for Princeton since Ed Burrowes took second in 1940. (Photo provided courtesy of Princeton Athletics)
By Justin Feil
Sam Rodman came into Princeton University on a high and left on another.
Between those highlights was a battle back from an injury and results that could have cost him confidence.
Facing a stacked field in the men’s 800-meter final at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Ore. on June 13, the Princeton senior swung out into the second lane around the final stretch and fought to a fourth-place finish and first-team All-American honors.
“I think I came in with the slowest PR, so part of me was like, just don’t get lapped,” said Rodman, who took seventh in the NCAA Outdoor 800 as a freshman. “But also I knew I could come away with something good because I’ve been trending upwards the whole year. So I was really excited with that excellent way to cap off my time at Princeton.”
Rodman is the highest finisher in the 800 at the NCAA meet for Princeton in 85 years. Ed Burrowes was second in 1940. Rodman already had earned a special spot in the program’s history thanks to some incredible performances over the final two months. It began with him first breaking the school record and his own personal record in the 800 with a 1:46.85 clocking at the Princeton Elite Invitational on May 17.
“The PR race I ran at home like a month ago, I felt very good and I even walked away from that race knowing I had more,” said Rodman. “And then the rounds at regionals actually kind of gave me a lot of confidence because even though they weren’t super quick races, I just navigated them very well and felt very good running those times. So I knew that there was a good PR coming.”
Rodman ran 1:47.24 in the East Regional preliminaries and then 1:47.28 to place third in the regional finals to earn a spot in the NCAA Championships. He had good workouts leading up to nationals that further increased his confidence. His confidence was rewarded in the qualifying round of the NCAAs when he snapped his own school record with a 1:46.27 for fifth in his heat. The lifetime best that Princeton coach Jason Vigilante predicted he’d need, held up for a spot in the finals.
“Me and my coach, Vig, have been saying it’s probably going to take a PR to make the final,” said Rodman. “So I came in with the mindset knowing that I would have to run faster than I’ve ever run.”
Rodman still had some moments of trepidation. He placed fifth in his heat, but there were two more heats to come after him. The top two in each heat qualified automatically, and Rodman ended up advancing based on his time.
“I got very lucky and they ended up being pretty slow heats,” said Rodman. “So I made it through on time and that was like my fastest time ever and I was really excited about that because it actually felt great.”
Rodman’s advancement this year showed a part of how he navigated the ups and downs of the sport. Success came quickly to Rodman. As a freshman out of Liberty, Va., he reached the NCAA Championships and raced to that seventh place finish in the 800 to earn All-America honors for the first time.
“I remember after my freshman or during my sophomore year right when I got back on campus, Vig told me that it was going to be much harder mentally to do the same things that I did freshman year because freshman year it’s just every race is like finding $20 in your pocket out of the dryer,” said Rodman. “You’re just like, ‘Oh yeah, that’s nice, I didn’t expect that.’ And then the next year, I kind of had that expectation for myself.”
Rodman reached the indoor NCAA Championships in the 800 as a sophomore, but didn’t advance out of the heats there. What followed that spring was an injury that cost him the outdoor season. It was a tough road back following that setback.
“Since then it was just very hard mentally to get back to the point of freshman year where I’m running and having fun and doing all that,” said Rodman.
It would have been easy to doubt himself more after last year. In his final race as a junior, he placed 24th – dead last – in the semifinals at the East regional. It wasn’t the ideal way to go into his final year with the Tigers.
“After having such a disappointing year last year and then being injured the year before, I feel like the expectations were much lower,” said Rodman. “I knew that I could PR and I knew in the back of my head that, I can make the final, I can do well in the final. But also it looks like no one’s really expecting me to go win.”
While many athletes say they don’t read message boards and predictions, Rodman can’t help himself. And the predictions didn’t have him reaching the NCAA final, let alone placing in an All-America spot. It took some pressure off.
“I’ve got the slowest time going in,” said Rodman. “So there’s literally nothing to be nervous about. If I lost, that’s literally what I was slated to do. It was kind of the underdog mindset, which has been the closest to replicating freshman year because you’re a freshman, no one expects you to do crazy things. So I think that sort of underdog mindset has helped a little this year.”
All of his races came into play to make his ending at Princeton a good one. He watched as roommate Harrison Witt finished 10th in the 1,500 meters before him to earn his third All-America honors. It was one more motivation to finish on a high.
“Being a senior, you just have so much experience going into these meets to draw on,” said Rodman. “I’ve made this meet. I made the final my freshman year, which was just insane. Like I had zero experience, and then was injured my sophomore year and last year I was last in the second round of the region. It was me and Harrison were last and second to last actually so we came away very disappointed and wanted a lot more this year.”
And while it was the end with Princeton, it was not the end for Rodman. He still has a season of spring track eligibility after missing his sophomore spring season. He’ll use that as a graduate student at the University of Virginia studying for a masters in commerce.
“We’ll live out the dream one more year and see where that takes us,” Rodman said.
At Virginia, Rodman will be about an hour from his home. He’ll spend the fall cross country season training – he’s never really run college cross country – and then train and compete as an unattached individual in the indoor season. When outdoor season comes around, he will fall back on the lessons learned on the track at Princeton to produce more highlights.
“The biggest thing I’ve taken away from Princeton is that track really is a team sport,” said Rodman. “Obviously, you get to the national level and you’re out there by yourself. But I think this year and last year, I’ve really started to buy into the whole team thing. I mean, obviously we have the goal every year of winning the Ivy League championship, but we’re starting to realize that as a team, we can do well at nationals and we had a really good group this year. So I tried to focus on really just scoring as many points for the team, and that kind of takes the pressure off of it being an individual race. So I’m going to try to take that to UVA next year.”