General | 3/11/2026 10:30:00 AM

As featured on the Sooner Athletic Conference's "Inisde the Sooner" series ... 

GOODWELL, Okla. — "Sometimes I tell people if I could have 20 Josh Samaron's, I would, and our team would be better for it; both on and off the track."
 
According to Cyrus Hall, Oklahoma Panhandle State's head cross country and track & field coach, that's simply the type of runner, teammate and person senior Joshua Samaron is. In fact, it's a sentiment everyone within the program shares.
 
"In practice, he's always pushing himself to get better, and that work ethic naturally pushes everyone around him to raise their level too," longtime best friend and track teammate Alan Martinez said. "He's always encouraging teammates, helping people stay focused, and bringing positive energy even during the toughest workouts."
 
"I don't know anyone on our team that doesn't like him," Hall said. "He supports everyone on our team like he has personal stock in their success. He's good at bringing people together."
 
In less than two years at OPSU, Samaron has enjoyed demonstrable improvement that has seen him set modern indoor program records in the 3k and 5k. He also made the leap from 45th to 35th individually between the 2024 and 2025 SAC Cross Country Championships, shaving well over a minute off his time and concluding his cross country career this past November with a personal-best 27:47 in an 8k race. Additionally, since Samaron became an Aggie, the Panhandle State men's track and cross country teams have been named a USTFCCCA All-Academic Team every season, with Samaron also being recognized as an NAIA Scholar-Athlete in 2025, his first year of eligibility for the honor.
 
But his journey to becoming one of the Aggies' most accomplished runners and beloved leaders has been far from straightforward. For Samaron, it's a tale of losing the sport he loved, wandering amidst a period of uncertainty, and – through faith and brotherhood – finding a home and community in which to thrive.
   
Samaron's story begins in small-town Earth, Texas, where his family still resides and the foundations of Samaron's Christian faith and connection to local community were built.
 
It's also where, when Samaron was in junior high at the Springlake-Earth School District, he discovered his family history of, and own talent for, distance running.
 
"In junior high (for Springlake-Earth's track team) … basically how they did it was, if you're really fast, you're on the sprint team. If you're really slow, you're running distance. So, being one of the slow sprinters, I was forced into running long-distance," Samaron said.
 
In eighth-grade cross country, Samaron took home first place in the district race, inspiring confidence that he had a real skill for the sport. After a successful high school running career, he signed with Clarendon College to run cross country and track.
 
Just one semester in at Clarendon, the head coach left for Ranger College. Soon, Samaron learned that the running track was being pulled from beneath his spikes entirely.
 
"We got a phone call in mid-December (2022), and they were basically telling us that the program for track and cross country was being closed down. So then it was like, 'Okay, so now are we going to stay here just for schooling, or are we going to go join Coach, or what's gonna happen?' And there was a lot of stuff that was going on personally for me during the time that I was just – I needed to be really close to home. So I ended up just transferring to South Plains College."
 
With South Plains College having an elite cross country and track program, Samaron grappled with the reality that his running career was likely over.
 
"(It) kind of sucked, because I really loved being able to compete and run, and so it was really life-changing, I guess, going into a school knowing that I wasn't competing anymore."
 
In the spring of 2024, roughly 18 months removed from any involvement in competitive running, Samaron earned his Associate of Science degree from South Plains College. Looking to continue his education, a series of conversations and circumstances eventually opened the door to an opportunity at OPSU.
 
Martinez, who was also teammates with Samaron at Clarendon but had transferred to West Texas A & M, had just transferred again to Panhandle State. He and current track teammate Jason Granillo, another friend of Samaron's and a transfer from WTAMU to OPSU, began to connect Samaron with Hall. Believing his running career was long over, Samaron did not immediately think the possibility was serious. However, through enough conversations, research and even a recruiting connection between Hall – who did not know about Joshua at the time – and Samaron's sister, the pieces all fell into place.
 
"I offered him a chance to run here at OPSU as a walk-on, and he took it," Hall said. "He just really wanted to run."
 
And run he has. Since becoming an Aggie, Samaron has outworked just about everybody as a student-athlete, leading by example in everything he does.
 
Samaron credits his faith as playing a large role in who he is as a runner and person, especially as he looks back on his mental state when running was taken away from him. He says he grew in his faith while at South Plains College, during which he prayed about getting another chance to run.
 
"God really answered my prayer by blessing me with allowing me to go to OPSU and run," Samaron said. "I use running now as a way to show people that just because you go through hard times doesn't mean that you can't come out of it stronger. Being able to come here and compete … shows how much of an impact faith can really make on you."
 
Today, through a local church he attends with members who treat him as family, and through active involvement in the Baptist Campus Ministry and Phileo Ministries, Samaron has also found familiarity and comfort in the small-town connections at and around OPSU.
 
"What really stands out about Josh isn't just what he does on the track — it's who he is in his daily life," Martinez said. "He genuinely tries to live like Christ and treat people with respect, kindness, and humility, whether we're at practice, traveling for meets, or just going through everyday life."
 
In May 2026, Samaron will leave OPSU to head to a school where he can finish a degree in engineering.
 
Whatever is next for Samaron, his perseverance and faith have laid the groundwork for a path of success, whether on the running trail or not.
 
And for the Aggie cross country and track programs, it's Samaron's "work ethic," "positive energy," and "respect, kindness and humility," that OPSU desires to carry on, long after Samaron is gone.