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Hanging on the beach

Matt O'Neill

Cory Martin ended his South Tahoe High career on the highest note possible – winning the Nevada 4A state cross country title in his senior year.

Now, Martin is starting his collegiate career with flying colors. As a freshman harrier for the Long Beach State 49ers, Martin has already begun to make his presence felt in Southern California.

He was named as one of the most-improved runners on the team at the end of the season awards banquet and had the third-highest grade-point average on the team.



Pretty impressive for a kid from the Sierra. It was all due to hard work.

“First, I was dead set on making the team,” Martin said. “My next goal was to be a scorer for the team.”



Not only did Martin accomplish his first two goals, he surpassed them by a huge amount. In the Hawaii Invitational in September, he placed 11th and was the third 49er to finish the race in the top 15.

For a freshman coming from a community of 20,000 people, heading to Long Beach State, which has a student population nearly double that size, Martin slid right into his team and schoolwork like a seasoned veteran.

“I would be stupid if I didn’t say I got homesick,” he said. “But coming down here really made me see society in a different light.”

Not only was adjusting to his new surroundings a change for Martin, but the way the team trained and the quality of athletes on the team.

“It was a huge adjustment to the collegiate training,” Martin said. “I was at kind of a disadvantage as well, coming from Nevada running and all.

“In California, they seem to run a lot faster.”

Faster or not, Martin is catching up to the competition.


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