Assistant Sports Editor and Ten Questions Columnist Anna Fasman ’16 caught up with senior captain David Melly to talk about everything from baking to his pump up playlist, which would be incomplete with Kesha.
1) How did you get your start in cross country and track?
I started running in eighth grade to stay in shape for swimming actually. I started out as a swimmer and then I just more and more fell in love with [running] and improved so I wasn’t bad at it anymore. Then, my sophomore year, I started doing cross country and the rest is history.
2) Cross country and long distance running in general can be a really mental sport. What advice do you have to people that have trouble getting over the mental hurdle of running?
I would always remind yourself what your goals are to keep you motivated day to day, but I also think that when you’re racing, it can be really helpful to not overthink things. That’s definitely been a problem I’ve had in the past. Just keeping it simple and reminding yourself what you want and why you are doing the training that you’re doing, while still not getting inside your own head on race day and staying relaxed is really important. This year, we’ve been really good as a team at staying relaxed and loose and kind of goofy on race day.
Connor Archard / Sun Sports Photography EditorSenior David Melly said he feels lucky to have been part of two such amazing teams during his time at Cornell.