Among many things, the COVID-19 pandemic prematurely ended the athletic careers of the majority of the St. Ambrose spring sport seniors.

Through no fault of their own, these seniors had their final seasons, and collegiate careers, shortened. Yet this does not diminish in any way their contributions to St. Ambrose University and the Athletic Department.

Some of these seniors were on the verge of postseason play, with sights set on competing for National Titles. Others were just getting their final seasons started. And still others never had a chance to compete this spring.

While COVID-19 brought a close to the SAU athletic careers of these seniors, it also robbed the St. Ambrose Athletic Department the opportunity to thank them for their contributions on the playing field, in the classroom and in the community.

Over the next several weeks, we will share stories on each of these seniors. In a way, this will be the Senior Day we were never able to give them.

These are our Seniors of 2020.

Get to know Sam Long:

How did you first get involved in your sport?
"When I was younger, I did a whole bunch of other sports. When I was in late middle school/early high school I started figuring out that, unlike everyone else, my favorite part of practice was the running. I started running/training on my own, running some road races, and decided to run cross country and track for my high school. My mom has also run all her life and when I was young, I would ride my bike with her while she ran, or I would watch her race in local road races on the weekends. So, running has sort of always been around in our house."

Pictured: Sam and his parents

Why did you choose St. Ambrose?
"When I was in high school, I knew I wanted a school with small class sizes and strong kinesiology/physical therapy programs. I visited St. Ambrose in the fall of my senior year and knew it was a perfect fit - I applied that day. In fact, Ambrose was the only school I ever visited. After I knew St. Ambrose was the school for me academically, I began to decide if collegiate running would be a good fit as well. I reached out to the coaching staff, met the team, and decided to continue my career past high school. Running at St. Ambrose was a perfect fit because it allowed me to fully prioritize myself on my academics but continue to improve and compete at a high level as a runner."

What is your favorite memory you'll take from St. Ambrose?
"It would be impossible to pick just one but spending junior year living with seven teammates in a townhouse on campus made plenty of fun memories. We never missed a single Sunday of grilling on the patio and are most likely going to go down in history as the greatest grill masters in the history of St.Ambrose University. With regards to running, my favorite memory was the 2018 CCAC outdoor conference meet. I was the only member of the team racing in the 10,000m, so the entire rest of the team made a tunnel on the back stretch of the track that I ran through 25 times. I ran the best race of my life and it was pretty incredible having 100+ other people cheering me on."

What are your future plans?
"I am partially through my first year in the Doctorate of Physical Therapy program here at SAU, so I have a year and a half left of school."

Can you tell me something unusual about yourself?
"Although I am a physical therapy student, I absolutely hate stretching. I do not think there was a single time in all four years that a coach did not have to tell me to stretch after practice (or check to make sure I was actually doing it). (Do as I say not as I do???)"

Could you talk a bit about your fellow seniors?
"Every senior on the team this year has gone through some form of serious challenge at some point throughout the last four years whether that be injury, personal, or anything else. The fact that they are all still on the team shows their personal perseverance and how much they love the sport of track and field. Additionally, it is pretty amazing to look back on the first few weeks on campus and look how close we have all gotten since then."

Do you have a favorite childhood memory?
"When I'm not running or studying, I really like to hunt, so a lot of my favorite childhood memories are hunting with my dad."