Michelle Belsley: Ahead of the pack

One if by land and two if by sea! For junior cross-country runner Michelle Belsley, it wouldn't matter much one way or the other, because she can kick most anybody's butt on the track or in the pool. "I used to just swim competitively," Belsley recalled. "But I won the junior high cross country conferences in sixth, seventh and eighth grades. When I was at swimming practice one day, the high school track coach came up to me and said, 'I want you to run track.' So I started running." And thus a star was born. Belsley, a native of Oak Brook, Ill., became an all-state swimmer and runner during her years at Hillsville Central High. Competing in swimming and indoor and outdoor track, Belsley excelled equally at the 100-meter breaststroke and the half-mile run. When she came to Penn, Belsley opted to give up her swimming career to concentrate on running. After only running track her freshman year, Belsley followed the advice of coaches Betty Costanza and Tony Tenisci and joined the cross country team her sophomore year. "I'm really a half-miler. I'd never done it before, so I didn't really picture myself as a cross country runner," the environmental studies and Spanish major said. After a year gaining experience running a much longer 3.1 mile standard course, Belsley exploded onto the cross-country scene this year. Despite two different leg injuries, she posted the fastest Quakers' time in every meet in which she competed all season. She had back-to-back first-place finishes at the Rutgers and Lafayette Invitationals. Last week, at the Heptagonal Championships in New York, Belsley proved she could run alongside all-American caliber runners, placing ninth overall with a time of 18 minutes, 46 seconds. Her breakthrough performance came in a race that was otherwise disappointing for the Quakers, who finished last of nine teams. "I wish my teammates were up there also because the way they work out in practice, they should be up with me. They have the ability," she said. Part of what might set Belsley apart from her teammates is her love of running in the big race. "She's a very highly motivated young woman and she has a real passion to compete," Tenisci said. "She trains very well and has a great work ethic, but she loves to compete more than anything. Competition really brings her to life. She is just fierce out there. Fierce." Belsley's history of running the half-mile has contributed to her aggressive running style. "You can tell I'm a half-miler because I always take out the first mile very, very quickly," she said. "Sometimes too quickly?I'm still new to this." "You have to remember that she started off swimming and switched to running later," Tenisci commented. "Her newness to running and to cross-country can only mean that she's just going to get better and better. She's only now looking at the tip of the iceberg." While she is only a junior and has been running cross-country for just two years, Belsley has earned the respect of her elder teammates. "She goes out every week and is just so consistent. She is a leader by example," senior co-captain Mary Conway said. While Belsley has experienced considerable success running cross-country, she still considers outdoor track her favorite season and the half-mile her best race. "I want to break the school record for the half-mile before I graduate. A girl who ran cross country last year promised to run around the track naked if I do, so I have added motivation to do that," Belsley laughed. An even greater motivation is the memory of her late father. "I kind of do it for my dad. It was the conference meet of my freshman year in high school when I found out he died, and the next day I broke a record. He's a major reason why I run." While a thirst for victory certainly drives her during the big races, when it comes down to it Michelle Belsley runs for one reason and one reason alone: "I love running. I just think it's fun and I'm going to keep running until it's not fun anymore."