Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/541265
P enn State alum Casimir Loxsom's first 800-meter race was in high school when his 4x800 relay team needed another person. He was recruited from the soccer team. Little did he know that years later, the distance would become his specialty and he would be pursuing running full-time. Loxsom ran that first 800 meters in a fairly pedestrian 2 minutes, 7 seconds, but by his senior year, he was running 1:50, making him the eighth-fastest high schooler in the country. He then went to Penn State, where he twice finished as the NCAA runner-up in the event. Now Loxsom has qualified for the IAAF World Outdoor Championships. He fin- ished third in 1:45.35 at the USATF Outdoor Championships in June at Oregon's Hay- ward Field. "The goal all year has been to make the team," Loxsom said. "This is the culmi- nation of just a dream season for me." After graduating from Penn State in 2013, Loxsom decided to sign with Brooks and move to Seattle to train professionally. His choice appears to have been a good one. In addition to qualifying for the world team, during the spring Loxsom set an American record in the 600 meters – twice. The second time, he also claimed his first indoor national championship. His current record stands at 1:15.33. He also ran a leg on the gold- medal-winning 4x800 team at the IAAF World Relays in April. En route to the final of the 800 meters at the USATF outdoor championships, Loxsom set a personal record of 1:44.92 during the semifinal race. It was the first time he had set a PR since 2011, his sophomore year at Penn State, and the first time he had run sub- 1:45. "I've [improved by] leaps and bounds since my college days, and this has been the best season of my career," Loxsom said. "I've raced a bunch of junior stuff and some lower-level senior teams, but this will be my first real true senior team." After his senior season at Penn State, Loxsom left the East Coast to train with the Brooks Beasts, a team coached by Dan- ny Mackey that now includes Olympian Nick Symmonds. Symmonds joined the team in 2014. Loxsom says he has been influenced by Symmonds to believe that anything is possible. At the 2015 outdoor champi- onships, Symmonds and Loxsom finished first and third, respectively. "I'm sur- rounded by such great people all the time, and their support is such a huge part of being able to make the team," he said. The respect is mutual, as the 31-year- old Symmonds has come back into form after contemplating retirement, in part because of training with Loxsom. "I've trained with hundreds of people V A R S I T Y V I E W S DISTANCE EDUCATION Big strides propel Casimir Loxsom to 'dream season' | KEEPING PACE Loxsom finished second in the 800 at the NCAA in- door and outdoor championships in 2013. Photo cour- tesy of Penn State Athletics