Sam Atkin has taken part in and won numerous races at the college and professional level, even reaching the last two Olympic Games, but that doesn’t mean he is particularly fond of the spotlight.
This past fall, the NAIA welcomed Sam Atkin — the five-year Lewis-Clark State Warrior and two-time Olympian from Grimsby, England — to its Hall of Fame.
The NAIA held its annual national convention over the weekend, but Atkin was officially honored at the 2024 NAIA Cross Country National Championships in November. Before the race, he listened to a reading of his accomplishments.
“I’m standing there next to him, just watching him hate every second of it, but I enjoyed every second of it, because he deserves that so much because of everything he’s accomplished,” said Alisha Alexander, LC State’s assistant athletic director for sports information. “And he’s so proud to have gone to a small school, to have gone to LC State.”
For Atkin, the feat of traveling halfway across the globe to carve out a college athletic career in small-town Idaho, U.S.A. was already a bold accomplishment.
However, add four NAIA national championships, a devastating injury suffered in an empty pandemic-era Tokyo Olympic stadium and a triumphant return to compete among the best in the world in front of his family and American chosen family and you have Atkin’s inspiring story.
Atkin is one of three LC State Warriors to join the NAIA Hall of Fame 2025 class. Articles highlighting long-time LC State statistician Denny Grubb and former women’s basketball coach Brian Orr were published within the past week.
A Warrior legend
Atkin’s journey to further his athletic career at LC State began because of the NCAA’s academic rules.
“Quite honestly, he’s kind of here by chance,” said Mike Collins, LC State’s head track and field and cross country coach. “I’m a big believer that things happen for a reason. Obviously, things turned out quite well for him, so it was a good reason.”
Collins said that Atkin did not meet some of the core class requirements to attend an NCAA school, so the coach of the program he was set to attend reached out to Collins about the English runner.
The long-time LC State coach said that he was not interested in being a feeder school and asked the NCAA coach not to accept Atkin if he decided to transfer from LC State after one year.
“I was trusting at the time that Sam was going to make friends and get comfortable and hopefully do well here,” Collins said. “Which he did.”
Atkin found himself in Lewiston training (and eventually living) with Collins and his family in 2011.
The Grimsby, England native carved out five school records in his five-year career, holding the indoor and outdoor 3,000 and outdoor 1,500, 5,000 and 10,000 marks.
In 2016, Atkin beat University of Oregon distance runner Edward Cheserek in the 3,000 at the Oregon Twilight at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.
Cheserek finished his career with 19 NCAA titles.
“Edward Cheserek is the most decorated Division I NCAA distance runner of all time, and Sam beat him on his home track on senior night,” Collins said. “It was pretty cool. Sam got a lot of attention after that.”
Atkin ended his career with four NAIA national championships and put together the best single season in LC State history in his junior year. The English runner was the national runner-up in cross country and won national championships in the indoor and outdoor track at Nationals. He won all but two races the whole season.
“It doesn’t matter where you go,” Alexander said. “If you’re good and you put in the work and you are surrounded by people that want to help you get better, you can get to that next level.”
From Lewiston to the Olympics