Like most athletes, Khai Samuels started his track and field career with modest ambitions, joining the Pleasant Valley program as a sophomore, thinking he wanted to be a sprinter and simply hoping to do his best.

Over the next three years, however, Samuels would blossom into one of the most successful middle-distance runners in school history, highlighted by a senior season that saw him set multiple school records while also helping the Bears achieve great success in their first year of competition in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference.As a junior, Samuels burst onto the scene by winning the District 11 Class AAA title in the 800.Samuels used the momentum of a stellar indoor track campaign this past winter, which included a sixth-place medal at the Pennsylvania Track and Field Coaches Association Indoor State Championships, to put himself in a position to end his scholastic career on a high note.And Samuels did not disappoint, going undefeated in the 800 during the regular season while improving in nearly every possible way, both individually and as a member of multiple relay teams.That steady progression continued throughout the postseason, where Samuels shined the brightest.After getting an indication of what he was capable of as a junior, it was clear Samuels had saved his best for last, winning three Eastern Pennsylvania Conference and District 11 gold medals (800, 1,600-meter relay, 3,200-meter relay) to go along with school records in the 800, 1,600 and 1,600-meter relay.That success propelled Samuels to an unforgettable run at the PIAA Championships this past Memorial Day weekend where he closed his career with a sixth-place medal in the 800 and turned heads by anchoring the 1,600-meter relay team to a third-place finish, a stunning result for a team that entered the event as the 23rd overall seed.Those accolades helped Samuels run away with one more award Times News Male Track Athlete of the Year."When I started running, I didn't think I would get this far at all. I just wanted to do my best," he said. "My first goal was to break the record (in the 800), but I didn't think it would go farther than that."The fact that I'm a multiple time district champion, a state medalist and now athlete of the year, that's a pretty big deal. It's a great feeling."That sense of pride is a sentiment that's also shared by Pleasant Valley head coach Michelle Piontkowski."It means a lot to me as a coach for Khai to win this award," she said. "He worked extremely hard last summer, during cross-country and in winter track to become the athlete he has become, and I truly believe that this is just the tip of the iceberg for him."Expectations for this season changed for both Samuels and the coaching staff after he won a district title a year ago, with both parties hoping for an improvement on his 10th-place result at Shippensburg in 2014."After the glimpse Khai gave us last year into what he is capable of, I knew that he should have a very successful season this year," Piontkowski said. "Our goal for him this year was to once again compete at the state track meet and finish in the top 10. He accomplished that goal and was a vital part of our boys' team doing so well throughout the season."While much of his newfound confidence could likely be attributed to what he did as a junior, Samuels was quick to point out just how much of an impact his success during the indoor season had on his outlook as he prepared for his final spring campaign."It changed everything," he said. "I don't know what I was expecting for my senior year before the indoor season, but when I went under 2:00 for the first time during the indoor season, that's when I started to think something could happen; that I could actually do something."Samuels took sixth with a time of 1:54.99 at the PTFCA State Indoor Championships at Penn State University in early March, and he hasn't looked back since. Samuels ran a school record time of 1:53.67 in the AAA final of the 800 at the PIAA Track and Field Championships a few months later to earn a sixth-place medal.But perhaps his greatest feat that day came in the last event on the track, when Samuels anchored the 1,600-meter relay team of Aliem Hoousendove-Jackson, Nyiem Nevarez and Tyson Calhoun to a third-place finish with a school record time of 3:17.82."We knew that we had four exceptional guys running the 1,600 relay, but we never really knew how much the other three guys were going to give us," said Piontkowski. "I think after they qualified for finals, going from 23rd to seventh in the preliminaries, and then seeing Khai finish sixth in the 800, the guys knew they could do even better than seventh place."With his goal of medaling at states accomplished, Samuels will now turn his attention to the next challenge competing at East Stroudsburg University.It's one Piontkowski thinks he'll have no problem adjusting to."I expect Khai to be competitive right away at the collegiate level," she said. "Khai has learned a lot these past couple of years about how to train, eat properly, approach different races and take care of his body after races. And with his willingness to listen and his competitive nature, he will quickly become a leader for ESU as well."