Samuel Harrison Mattis (born March 19, 1994) is an American

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

athlete who competes in the discus throw and has a personal record of 68.69 meters.Personal Best
nj.com. Accessed 2016-03-19 His biggest success to date was first place at the 2015 NCAA National Championships.2015 NCAA Nationals
Penn Athletics. Accessed 2016-03-19 That was, until he finished first place at the 2019 Outdoor USA Track and Field Championships. In June 2021, Sam became an Olympian after finishing top three at the 2020 United States Track and Field Olympic Trials. He competed for the University of Pennsylvania Quakers in college and won an

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

title while there. His throw of to win the 2016 Philadelphia College Classic is the American Collegiate record and 2nd best mark in history by a college student. He was enrolled in the

Wharton School of Business The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania ( ; also known as Wharton Business School, the Wharton School, Penn Wharton, and Wharton) is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in ...

at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

pursuing a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

in Finance and Operations Management.

Early life and career

Mattis was born in

Manhattan, New York City Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...

, the son of Marlon and Marcie Mattis. Mattis grew up in

East Brunswick, New Jersey East Brunswick is a township in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. The suburban bedroom community is part of the New York City metropolitan area and is located on the southern shore of the Raritan River, directly adjacent to the city ...

and attended

East Brunswick High School East Brunswick High School is a comprehensive public high school serving students in tenth through twelfth grades in East Brunswick Township, in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States, operating as part of East Brunswick Public Schools. ...

, where he started competing in the discus throw events as a teenager.Sam Mattis
. Penn Quakers. Accessed 2016-03-19.

Collegiate career

Over the course of his four years competing for Penn, he earned three NCAA

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

n honors and one NCAA title, as well as being named the USATFCCA/NCAA National Scholar of the year. The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association selected him as the 2015 Male Scholar Athlete of the Year for Division I.DI Men's Track & Field Scholar Athletes of the Year
USTFCCCA. Accessed 2016-03-19 He is a four-time Heps Outdoor Champion in the Discus throw and received First-Team All-Ivy honors for each of his four outdoor seasons.

Personal life

Son of Marcie and Marlon. Has one brother, Jake who also attended UPenn's

Wharton School The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania ( ; also known as Wharton Business School, the Wharton School, Penn Wharton, and Wharton) is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in P ...

. Father was captain of the William & Mary track & field team in 1985 and held the 35-lbs weight throw record and ranks No. 3 in the hammer.

Major competition record

Personal bests

*Information taken from World Athletics and Direct Athletics profiles.

References

External links

* * Direct Athletics profile fo
Sam Mattis
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mattis, Sam 1994 births Living people Track and field athletes from New Jersey East Brunswick High School alumni People from East Brunswick, New Jersey Sportspeople from Middlesex County, New Jersey American male discus throwers American male shot putters African-American male track and field athletes African-American Jews Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania alumni Penn Quakers men's track and field athletes USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic track and field athletes of the United States 21st-century African-American sportspeople