BlueWhite Online
A magazine covering Penn State
Printed August 21, 2015
By Lindsay Rossmiller
EUGENE, Oregon - Penn State alum Casimir Loxsom’s first 800-meter race was in high school when his 4x800 relay team needed another person. He was recruited from the soccer team.
Little did he know that years later, the distance would be his specialty and he would be pursuing running full-time.
Loxsom ran that first 800 meters in a fairly pedestrian 2 minutes, 7 seconds, but by his senior year, he was running 1:50, making him the eighth fastest high schooler in the country. He then went to Penn State where he was the NCAA runner-up in the event twice.
Now Loxsom has qualified for the IAAF world outdoor championships in the event. He finished third in 1:45.35 at the USATF Outdoor Championships in June.
“The goal all year has been to make the team,” said Loxsom, a 2013 Penn State graduate. “This is the culmination of just a dream season for me.”
After graduating from Penn State in 2013, Loxsom decided to sign with Brooks and move to Seattle to train professionally. By June 2015, his choice appeared to have been a good one.
In addition to qualifying for the world team, during the spring Loxsom set a new American record in the 600 meters - twice. The second time he also claimed his first indoor national championship. His current record stands at 1:15.33. He also ran a leg on the gold medal winning 4x800 team at the IAAF World Relays in April.
En route to the final of the 800 meters at the USATF outdoor championship, Loxsom set a personal record in the 800 meters of 1:44.92 during the semifinal race. It was the first time he had set a PR since 2011, his sophomore year at Penn State, and the first time he has run sub-1:45.
“I’ve made leaps and bounds since my college days, and this has been the best season of my career,” said Loxsom. “I’ve raced a bunch of junior stuff and some lower level senior teams, but this will be my first real true senior team.”
After his senior season at Penn State, Loxsom left the East Coast to train with the Brooks Beasts, a team coached by Danny Mackey and which also now includes Olympian Nick Symmonds. Symmonds joined the team in 2014.
Loxsom says he has been influenced by Symmonds to believe that anything is possible. At the 2015 outdoor championships, Symmonds and Loxsom finished first and third, respectively. “I’m surrounded by such great people all the time, and their support is such a huge part of being able to make the team,” he said.
The respect is mutual as the 31-year-old Symmonds has come back into form after contemplating retirement, in part because of training with Loxsom.
“I’ve trained with hundreds of people in my career now and no one has ever had the same leg turnover speed that Cas has,” Symmonds said. “He’s just so fast. … When I saw he made the team I was really proud of him. And now I get to train with him for another seven more weeks as we prepare for Beijing.”
Brooks Beasts coach Danny Mackey will oversee that preparation and has also been pivotal in Loxsom’s recent success. While it takes time to develop a relationship of trust and open communication, they two seem to be hitting their stride. “I think Danny is really figuring me out as an athlete,” Loxsom said. “I love Seattle. I love my training setup. I think we have a really good thing going as a team.”
Loxsom is now preparing for the world championships, to be held August 22-30 in Beijing. “It’ll be fun,” he said. “I think I’m going to handle it as kind of a learning experience and then I’m moving into USAs next year to try to get on my first Olympic team. Gosh, there’s just not much to complain about this year.”