April 27, 2009

Garden City, N.Y. - Danielle Matteo is a senior at Adelphi University and a member of the track team. She has placed in competitions both with her team and on an individual level. Today she can run a 5K in 19 minutes flat. She has beaten the odds on more than one occasion during her four years here at Adelphi.

Danielle came to Adelphi as a freshman, interested in graphic design and soccer. She was a walk-on for the soccer team and was running on the side just to keep in shape. She really loved to run, so when she was approached and asked to run for Adelphi's track team it was not a very hard decision for her to make. She became a three sport athlete, running in cross country, indoor and outdoor track.

During cross country season of her sophomore year she hurt her knee. She tried to fix the injury with an intense physical therapy regiment. In March of 2007, nothing she had tried had been successful so she went in for surgery on her knee. There was only a 50% chance that the surgery was even going to work. She was out for two seasons-indoor and outdoor. Even though she could not practice or compete in any of the competitions herself, Danielle attended every single meet while she was injured.

Teammate Danielle Malise stated, "Danielle is very motivated and gives her all at every practice and at every meet. She's a good leader."

The summer after Danielle's surgery she started to run again. She was running only three times a week, as opposed to the typical daily run she was doing before the injury. After her surgery she was running the 5K in 23 minutes. It took all summer for her to recover from the surgery. "You have to start slow, mentally and physically. I thought I would never heal and never get back into shape," Danielle said.

During her junior year she was able to run again, but not to 100% of what she felt she was capable of. For cross country only seven girls get to race. She was one of the selected top seven from Adelphi, but still was not where she wanted to be. "With all the set-backs and everything that happened, it made me push and train that much harder and set goals for what I wanted to run and for where I wanted to be," Danielle said.

Her coach Adam Siepiola and her teammates helped her through everything, but the person that influenced her most was her assistant coach Katie DiPietro. "Katie has pulled me through times I thought I was going to give up because of the pain. And then we got to train together this past summer. I really got to run a full 6-7 day week of high mileage; we would do 9-10 mile runs at Old Westburry Hills, or meet up and run together. She really made me know what I was capable of doing," Danielle explained.

Danielle spoke of the drive and commitment it takes to get up early in the summer and start your day off with a 10 mile run, a lot of the time in the heat and by yourself. She said, "It can be a struggle but in the end you know what you want and how hard you have to train. When you are not training everyone else is, so if you want to beat them you have to train just as hard."

"Danielle is an extremely hard worker and very determined. She came back strong from an injury and showed our team what hard work can get you. She is really caring and will go out of her way to help us out or cheer us up if we are having a bad day. She is a great teammate and I'm excited that we get to run our final seasons at Adelphi together next year," said teammate Heather Troutman.

As a senior Danielle competed in the cross-country regionals. Two weeks before the 6K race, Danielle sprained her ankle. She was told that she would not be able to compete in the race. She was unable to practice the two weeks before the race and beat the odds once more and competed in the regional race. Her team finished third overall. Danielle finished top 20 in the region, with a sprained ankle.

Danielle practices for cross-country every morning at 6am and during the indoor/outdoor season at 7am. She runs 10 miles a day. Although she's a senior, Danielle has one more year of eligibility since she was not on the track team her freshman year. Danielle has chosen to stay at Adelphi for the extra time in order to continue competing in track and to further her education in graphic design.

"This season I was top three. With another season left I want to run an eighteen minute low, and if things go really well maybe, just maybe break the eighteen minute mark. We will see. I know what I have to do and how high my mileage will get and I am ready to do it," Danielle stated.

With high goals and a strong desire for accomplishment, Adelphi can expect big things from Danielle Matteo.

Julie Guillette is a junior communications major at Adelphi University