By Rich Winter

605 Sports

Few people outside of his high school track team knew then-Sioux Falls Jefferson junior Sam Castle was injured last spring. 

Castle finished fourth in the Class AA 800-meter run (1:55.6) at the 2022 state track meet and did so with a labrum in his hip that wasn’t quite right. 

“I think it started about two years ago when I was at Sioux Falls Roosevelt,” he said. “I had a microtear in my labrum and I irritated it even more on the track last spring at Jefferson.” 

After completing the 800 Meter run at the state track meet, Castle had one more event to run, the anchor carry on Jefferson’s medley relay team. 

The morning of the event Castle had trouble just getting out of bed. 

“I got up that morning and while I was putting on my uniform I stood on one leg and almost collapsed,” he said. 

Castle called his parents and said he didn’t think he could run to which they encouraged him to talk with his coaches. The coaches told Castle to warm up and see how he felt. 

The warmup did not go well. 

“I literally started crying and I was very stiff and uncomfortable,” he said. “My coach stopped me on the warmup and told me that if anyone could do it, I could.” 

On the track, Castle’s teammates gave Castle a slight lead over Rapid City Stevens. 

Castle split 56-seconds over the first 400 meters and was eventually passed by Rapid City Stevens standout Simeon Birnbaum. Castle managed to hold off a hard-charging Brandon Valley team for second place that scored eight team points for Jefferson. 

Castle crossed the finish line and went down in a heap. 

“I didn’t even try to walk off the track,” he said. “My legs folded underneath me and I screamed.”

Sioux Falls Jefferson's Sam Castle collapsed to the track after anchoring the team's medley relay to second place at the 2022 Class AA state track meet - Rodney Haas - File photo

Castle rehabbed with Avera Health and was able to work his way into shape by running on their speed treadmills. 

“Doctors told me that full recovery is likely to take about a year,” he said. “I was able to start aqua jogging about six months after surgery and was cleared to resume training on Dec. 22.”

At first the miles ticked away at a 10-minute per mile pace, hardly that of an elite high school runner. 

“It was humbling to realize I wasn’t even close to where I was before,” he said. 

At his first indoor meet of 2023 in Mitchell, Castle clocked a respectable 2:01 for the 800-meter run. 

“It felt pretty easy and was on a 200-meter flat track,” he said. “After that I wanted to see how fast I could really go.” 

In the back of his mind Castle was hoping to run fast enough to qualify for the New Balance indoor nationals for 800 meters. To do that he would need to run a 1:56.00.

He ran 1:56.05 at his final indoor meet in South Dakota. After nervously emailing New Balance, Castle received the news that he had been selected to run in Boston at a national championship meet. 

Castle said he was sick the weekend he was in Boston but the experience gave him confidence heading into the outdoor season where he will be running for Sioux Falls O’Gorman. 

“I thought the experience was priceless,” he said. “After my indoor season I’m pretty excited for the outdoor season. 

After an injury plagued junior year Castle has some big goals this year. 

“One of my goals is to break 1:50 in the 800 meter run,” he said. 

Castle won the 400-meter dash at last week’s Mount Marty meet (:51.34), a personal  best. Castle will continue his academic and athletic career at South Dakota State University.