Junior Sam Schneider has been a prominent distance runner for Carlsbad’s varsity cross country and track and field team for the past three years. Although she’s not sure if she wants to competitively run in college, Schneider looks to improve her high school times in her upcoming seasons.

Lancer Link: How did you get into running?

SS: I’ve always wanted to run track and I remember in elementary school looking forward to middle school because it had a track team. I always wanted to run hurdles, but after a couple years, I realized that wasn’t the event for me and I tried long distance. I also got into running because we always ran at soccer practice. Once I started running distance, I fell in love with it.

LL: How many years have you been running?

SS: I’ve been running for six years competitively, but I’ve been running for fun much longer.

LL: What is your favorite running memory?

SS: One of my favorite memories is our 11 mile run in Cardiff we do every Sunday.

LL: What is your biggest accomplishment?

SS: My biggest accomplishment was making it to the CIF San Diego prelims for the 800 meter sophomore year and making varsity my freshman year.

LL: What is your best lesson learned from running?

SS: I’ve learned to never give up. Hard training and determination will lead to success.

LL: What are some pre-race rituals that you have?

SS: I start my day with a bowl of cereal.

LL: What is some advice for younger runners?

SS: Laugh and have fun.

LL: Who is your biggest inspiration?

SS: My coach because she always gives us good advice which helps us succeed throughout the race.

LL: What do you do when you’re not running?

SS: I like to go the beach and go for bike rides. Biking is awesome. I also enjoy traveling, eating, hanging out with my friends and skiing.

LL: Anything else?

SS: No. I just really love running.