Josh Snyder beat the 39-year-old school record for men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase during this race at the Hayward Premiere on April 2, 2021. (Photo by Larry Lawson)
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.”
(Photo by So-Min Kang)SNYDER’S ATHLETIC prospects became apparent in his sophomore year of high school, when his 5,000-meter 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 Oregon University. “You can’t really replace parents that care for you. That’s kind of the role that my family stepped into unknowingly.”
The role was perhaps never clearer than when Snyder, after consultation with Hammons, lived with the Huttons for a year. He accepted the responsibilities, like chores; the experiences, such as a family trip to eastern Oregon; and the opportunities for personal growth, such as the weekly family attendance at Christian services. “Our house was a safe place,” Brent Hutton said.
Meanwhile, Snyder continued to improve, setting the high school’s record in the steeplechase.
Before deciding to attend PSU, Snyder met with his future college teammates and quickly jibed with them. Snyder said goofing around with his teammates after practice has been one of the best parts about running collegiate track.
“We can just go around and be our dumb, young 21-year-old selves,” Snyder said.
SNYDER’S PSU career began with a thud. Leading by 70 meters in an outdoor steeplechase event his freshman year in 2019, Snyder stepped on a shoelace before reaching the third barrier. His head hit the barrier and it knocked him out.
With a concussion, Snyder was disqualified from the race. His time in the concussion protocol put a hold on his goals until the following season.
Portland State Track and Field Assistant Coach Josh Seitz, who coaches distance runners, said coaches have needed to encourage Snyder to not push his body too much.
He’ll run through a brick wall for you if he knows you have his best interests at heart.
“He’ll run through a brick wall for you if he knows you have his best interests at heart,” Seitz said. “He is one of the most stubborn athletes I’ve ever coached, and I say that in a good way.”
COVID-19 nixed the following spring season, meaning Snyder’s chance for redemption wouldn’t come until his junior year. Seitz said he maintained his training routine until he saw the track again.
In his first season back, Snyder broke the record. Twice named to the Academic All-Big Sky list, Snyder currently ranks in the top ten of five other all-time school distance records.
“Everything that I do in life, I have a different determination to kind of prove our parents wrong,” Snyder said. “There’s times where I definitely push harder than I should be, just because I always feel like I have something to prove.”
Snyder added, though, that his teammates and coaches at PSU have created a welcoming home for him, much like what he had with Hammons, the Huttons and his Bandon High teammates.
“Seitz, and the team, the guys have been really good at encouraging me,” he said. “I’ve shown that I do belong here, and that’s not something that I have to do anymore.”
Snyder won’t compete in the outdoor track season this spring but will be “helping the team in any way that I can,” he said.
After graduation, he plans to join the Army with the goal of becoming a Green Beret.