Houghton University Athletics

Joe Campagna did most of his running as a child on the soccer field. He played the sport from age 5 through his freshman year of high school in his hometown of Lewisburg, Pa. But after running track – and doing fairly well – in the spring of his freshman year, he found his passion.
 
"I enjoyed the purity of the competition, the ability to quantify performance, the chance to test yourself against the clock and against others," Joe says. "It was a chance to compete against others, but more importantly against one's self, to experience the pleasure of running free down a country road."
 
His passion soon grew into success. Joe was recruited to run track at a number of Ivy League schools, finally choosing to attend the University of Pennsylvania. Though he did well in school and in running, he sensed an emptiness and wasn't happy with his experience. He looked to transfer and Houghton was the perfect fit.
 
Joe transferred to Houghton after his sophomore year and quickly became one of the top runners on the cross country course and on the track. Though he qualified for NAIA Nationals as a junior in 1998, his performance was hampered by a knee injury. He bounced back a year later with his 21^st place finish at the 1999 NAIA National Championships, becoming the first Houghton cross country All-American, and leading the team to a 17^th place finish in the nation.
 
On the track, Joe would break the school records in the indoor 5,000 meters and the outdoor 10,000 meters and was a member of record-setting 4x800 and Distance Medley Relay teams. He was a two-time NAIA All-America Scholar-Athlete, a two-time Highlander team athlete of the year, and was the athletic department's winner of the 2000 Dr. Marvin H. Eyler Excellence Award.
 
His memories of Houghton circle back to the great team spirit, the supportive and positive environment, and the fact that his teammates never lost sight of what was important in life. He fondly remembers winter runs through the woods in deep snow, team runs ending in the river and team trips to Wiscoy Falls.
 
"Our team was a full of people who took their spiritual development seriously," Joe says. He's quick to point to Bob Smalley, Pat Weaver and Abram Kidd as individuals who contributed to that environment. In the classroom, Cameron Airhart was a source of academic development.
 
A humanities major at Houghton, Joe says that his involvement in athletics helped him remain disciplined in the classroom. He took those lessons beyond Houghton after graduating in 2000, continuing his education at Vermont Law School, where he finished 5^th in his class of 169.
 
He currently lives in Seattle, Washington where he works as an attorney and is currently running for a seat on the King County District Court this fall. Joe stills runs, but he says, "Not enough".
 
He and his wife, Margaretta, have a daughter, Mira, and a son, David.