SOMETHING TO PROVE After a hard start, a record-breaking runner finds his way BY THE TIME Josh Snyder broke the Portland State 3,000-meter steeplechase record, he’d already mastered the art of clearing barriers. In April 2021, the senior broke the 39-year-old school record and then quickly broke it again, ultimately clocking a time of 8:56.64 at the Oregon Relays. Long before that, he navigated a turbulent childhood. Snyder’s biological father left the family before he was born. His mother remarried, but substance addiction coupled with physical and emotional abuse took a toll on the family. His step-grandmother, Byrl Hammons, took on the unofficial role of guardian for him and his five siblings, and the family moved from Nevada to Bandon when Snyder was 10 years old. Several years after they arrived at the small, coastal Oregon city, Hammons applied for custody of Snyder and his siblings, and she eventually adopted them when Snyder was 17. “I just gave him the guidance and the love that he needed and believed in him,” Hammons said. Though they had entered the foster care system, Synder and his siblings were under the supervision of a family member. Snyder said he considers himself relatively lucky because it would have been “just as easy” for Hammons to contact the Department of Human Services and have the state find a home for him and his siblings. But it was a painful experience, Snyder said, recalling a court hearing that offered his biological parents a final chance to retain parental status. Neither of them attended. “It was super hurtful,” Snyder said. “It makes you feel, like, not really loved or not wanted. And so, I think that one of the things that has developed in me over time now is that I have this motivation of always trying to prove myself even if I don’t have to.” SNYDER’S ATHLETIC prospects became apparent in his sophomore year of high school, when his 5,000meter time improved by nearly a minute to 16:20. In track and cross country, he’d found a place where he belonged. “He was struggling as a young guy to find a way, who he was, what he believed in,” said Brent Hutton, the Bandon High School track coach. “He really found a group that he meshed with, and it really sent his life in a different direction than it would have gone.” Snyder grew close to Hutton and his son, Hunter, a teammate.“It took a while for Josh to have that kind of trust for people who really care for him,” said Hunter Hutton, now a distance runner at Western athletics SO-MIN KANG 16 // PORTLAND STATE MAGAZINE
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