Samuel Ellison Hometown: Dresher, Pa. High School: Upper Dublin Position: Cross Country/Distance Birthdate: 12/05/1992 Experience: Jr./Jr.

On Ellison: Comes off a sophomore season in which he emerged as one of the top 800 meters runners in the nation and earned All-America honors for the first time ... Has put himself in position to continue doing big things as a perennial contributor to the team at the BIG EAST and national levels.

2012 Outdoor: First team All-American and BIG EAST individual champion in the 800 meters ... During the course of the year lowered his personal best time in the 800 meters by more than three seconds ... His current top time of 1:47.62 came in an eighth place finish in the finals at the NCAA Championships ... Won his heat in the national first round of the 800 meters at the NCAA East Regional and was an automatic qualifier at every stage of the postseason, including for the quarterfinals at the NCAA regional and both the semifinals and national championship race at the NCAA finals site ... His times included 1:49.65 in the national first round, 1:47.76 in the quarterfinal heats and 1:48.40 in the semifinals ... Had the fastest time in both the preliminaries (1:50.02) and the finals (1:50.99) at the BIG EAST Championships ... Finished in first place in a then personal best time of 1:49.04 at the Hurricane Alumni Invitational ... Anchored the 4x800 meter relay and ran the third leg of the distance medley relay at the Penn Relays.

2012 Indoor: Part of championship winning relays at the BIG EAST Championships and the Millrose Games ... Anchored the 4x800 meter relay to a conference title at the BIG EAST meet and ran the third leg of the distance medley relay at the Millrose Games ... Individually earned All-BIG EAST honors for a runner-up finish in the 500 meters at the BIG EAST Championships ... Established new personal bests in the 500 meters in three consecutive races, concluding with his current top time of 1:01.17 in the finals at the conference meet ... Previously posted a time of 1:01.81 in the BIG EAST preliminary heats and won the Championship section at the New Balance Collegiate Invitational in 1:01.92 ... Came in third in the invitational section of the 800 meters at the Penn State National (1:49.35) ... Won the 1000 meters in 2:33.80 at the season-opening Jack Pyrah Invitational and ran a personal best time of 2:27.47 in an eighth place finish at the NYC Gotham Cup ... Ran the third leg of the 4x400 meter relay in a second place finish at the Jack Pyrah meet (3:26.34) and a 10th place finish at the Penn State National (3:17.85).

2011 Outdoor: Ran the third leg (800 meters) of the distance medley relay to help Villanova win a Championship of America title at the Penn Relays ... It was the 94th Penn Relays championship for the Wildcats and the 24th in the DMR ... Also helped the Wildcats finish fifth in the IC4A section of the 4x400 meter relay at the Penn Relays, running the anchor leg in the preliminaries and the second leg in the final race ... Helped Villanova set a season-best time of 3:10.22 in the 4x400 relay at the IC4A Championship ... Individually, placed fifth in the 400 meters at the BIG EAST Championships ... Set a personal best in the event with a time of 47.61 at the Hurricane Alumni Invitational, where he came in sixth ... Won his section and placed sixth overall in the 400 meters at the Mason Spring Invite ... Ran the 800 meters in a time of 1:52.01 at the Colonial Relays.

2011 Indoor: All-BIG EAST in the 500 meters with a third place finish at the conference championships ... Had a time of 1:03.15 at the BIG EAST meet ... Earlier in the year won the 500 meters at the NYRR I meet with a personal best time of 1:02.76 ... Earned BIG EAST Track Athlete of the Week honors for that performance ... Won the 500 meters at the Jack Pyrah Invitational in his collegiate debut (1:05.79) ... Runner-up in the 800 meters at the NYRR II meet in a personal best time of 1:51.22.

Upper Dublin High School: Team captain for the indoor and outdoor teams as a senior ... Helped the team finish in third place at the state championships in the 2009 indoor and outdoor meets ... 2010 Suburban One American Conference Athlete of the Year ... Placed fourth in the 400 meters and eighth in the 800 meters at the 2010 PTFCA state championships.

Personal: Born 12/5/92 ... One of two children of Roy and Patricia Ellison ... Has a sister, Simone ... Undeclared major in the school of Liberal Arts ... Aspires to have a career in journalism or writing.

PERSONAL BESTS

400 Meters (Relay)    46.00             2013 Penn Relays
400 Meters (Open)     47.61             2011 Hurricane Alumni Invitational
500 Meters            1:01.17           2012 BIG EAST Championships
800 Meters (Relay)    1:47.43           2013 Penn Relays
800 Meters (Open)     1:47.62           2012 NCAA Championships
1000 Meters           2:27.47           2012 NYC Gotham Cup

CAREER AWARDS (Indoor Track)

All-American (First Team)               2013 (Distance Medley Relay)
All-American (Second Team)              2013 (800 Meters)
BIG EAST Champion                       2012 (4x800 Meter Relay)
All-BIG EAST                            2011, 2012, 2013 (500 Meters)
All-BIG EAST                            2012 (4x800 Meter Relay)
Millrose Games Champion                 2012 (Distance Medley Relay)

CAREER AWARDS (Outdoor Track)

All-American (First Team)               2012 (800 Meters)
BIG EAST Champion                       2012, 2013 (800 Meters)
All-BIG EAST                            2012, 2013 (800 Meters)
All-BIG EAST                            2013 (4x400 Meter Relay)
Penn Relays Champion                    2011 (Distance Medley Relay)

CAREER AWARDS (Academics)

USTFCCCA All-Academic Team              2011-12
BIG EAST Academic All-Star              2010-11, 2011-12