Admin (Garrett Zatlin)
Jan 22, 20211 min
The Stride Report has confirmed that Samantha Valentine (currently with Brown University) will be finishing her athletic eligibility at New Mexico starting fall as a graduate transfer. She is expected to have all three seasons of eligibility remaining, including a potential second outdoor track season should the Ivy League not compete in spring sports later this year.
Valentine is a respectable distance talent who can offer value in all three seasons of competition. She owns a personal best of 9:33 for 3000 meters as well as a personal best of 10:22 for the 3000 meter steeplechase.
On the grass, Valentine was the 10th place finisher at the 2019 Ivy League XC Championships.
Valentine joins current teammate Hannah Butler as Brown University runners who will eventually take their talents to schools in the Mountain region starting next fall. Butler will be attending the University of Utah next year.
Valentine is now one of many experienced graduate transfers that the New Mexico coaching staff has recently added to their program. She'll join names such as Anna Kostarellis (formerly of Xavier), Hannah Miler (formerly of Southern Methodist) and Fiona O'Keeffe (formerly of Stanford, just turned pro) who were brought in this past summer.
With Valentine set to join the team next fall, the Lobos appear to be making a concentrated effort to build out the depth of their always competitive cross country program.