Fall of her freshman year, a shoulder injury left senior Sam Witteles unable to run at all. In three years, she dropped 7 minutes in the 5-kilometer and climbed from middle-JV to a varsity leader. Now a senior, she’s committed to Dartmouth College’s Division I cross country team — a feat of her dreams.
For Sam, all her achievements came from trusting the process — even when she joined the cross country team with minimal prior formal running training and two months late due to a severe shoulder injury from a summer bike accident.
“It was really demotivating because I had worked hard all summer,” Sam said. “But I wouldn’t go back and change it because being injured and overcoming that helped me to where I am today.”
But as soon as Sam was back to training, her “stair-step of improvement” began, according to cross country head coach Charles Alexander. According to Alexander, despite arriving as an average freshman coming off an injury, Sam’s work ethic throughout the rest of high school transformed her story.
“Between her sophomore and junior year, the light switch went on,” Alexander said. “She dropped 4 minutes of her time on our 3-mile courses. Nobody does that.”
Throughout Sam’s running career, she achieved podium finishes at CCS two years in a row and led the team to a CCS Championship her senior season, finishing in 18:05.5 for 2.95 miles at Crystal Springs, the fourth fastest time ever in school history.
Sam also raced at the coveted Clovis Invitational in 2024 and 2025, leading her team two years in a row to a 14th and 11th place finish respectively. Her consistent hard work for 4 years resulted in her team racing at the CIF State Championships on Nov. 29, where she finished her high school career with a personal best of 18:13.1 in the 5K.
Despite a great finish to her senior cross country season — Sam finished 2nd at CCS — her distance running career isn’t ending yet. After this spring’s track season, Sam’s off to bigger and faster competition as she runs DI for Dartmouth.
For Sam, Dartmouth fitted her dream campus, athletic and academic programs.
“I loved the people there,” Sam said. “I like that it’s in the middle of nowhere and the campus is gorgeous and outdoorsy. About 25% of the school plays a sport, so having that automatic community is really special for me.”
Aside from running, Sam plans to major in biological chemistry in the pre-medical track at the Ivy League school.
Senior Ishika Modi, Sam’s friend and teammate, said Sam’s motivation is her biggest means of impact.
“Sam is the opposite of a procrastinator; she’s a doer,” Ishika said. “Since she started being our top runner, other people have also been really motivated to run more miles a week or do their core because she does it. She has this contagious, hard-working spirit.”
Despite her competitiveness, Sam is known for her kindness to people of every age on the team.
“She is really kind to everyone,” Ishika said. “She’ll talk to underclassmen who people don’t interact with much or if she is on a run and sees a kid who is lost, she always stops to help.”
Reflecting on her journey from a bike accident to the Ivy League, Sam’s biggest advice to younger athletes is to have faith in the process.
“Trust the training,” Sam said. “If you put in all your effort, you should be happy with yourself. I always tell myself if I put in the effort and keep my consistent mileage, the results will come.”
