McDaid Makes Speedy Impact in Return to Cross Country

Two years ago, 's Kelly McDaid had had enough of cross country and decided to quit the team after a few practices and the very first meet. 

The then-sophomore figured she still had other enjoyable sports to be a part of. Basketball was coming up in less than two months and softball was in the fall to take up the rest of her time. 

"When I first quit, it was hard for me,” Kelly said. “I didn't like running and everyone there was faster and more experienced. It was just intimidating." 

Fortunately for Kelly, now a senior, she has had a change of heart about the sport she once loathed.

She decided to come back to cross country her junior year—to the surprise of many—and she has literally been pounding the pavement ever since.

"You just don't see that," said coach Mike Trimble, who also coached her in basketball. "Usually once a person quits, they're done with the sport forever. So to see someone come back… especially the year right after, that's just a rare thing to see."

After quitting the first time around, Kelly said she decided to return to cross country not just for the conditioning but also as a challenge to herself.

The challenge was more than trying something new, more than getting out of her comfort zone. Kelly soon found that out after ending up in an ambulance due to heat exhaustion after finishing her first meet at the Crystal Springs course.

"I don't really know how hot it was that day. All I know is that it was way too hot for me," she said. "It was my first time in an ambulance, so it was weird."

Despite a bad headache that day and her struggle with the heat, Kelly finished the course with a 25:49 clocking, improving that to a 24:12 by the end of the year.

"I was surprised to shave off more than a minute," Kelly said. "That was my best course last season, so I'm hoping to do even better at Crystal Springs this year."

Trimble attributes Kelly’s success in cross country to her consistency and her work ethic.

"Kelly is a quiet young lady,” he said, “but definitely one that speaks loud with her actions and the effort she puts forward every day."

Kelly, now entering her senior season of cross country, plans to make a push for the No. 4 spot in the varsity line-up.

"As I finished the season I started to like the sport a lot more," she said. "I've learned a lot by just being in practice, running the courses and getting familiar with them. I like being part of a team, I love competing and pushing myself every time."

Kelly has had her fair share of Capuchino glory, holding the starting small forward spot for the Lady Mustangs basketball team and winning the Central Coast Section Division III softball championship earlier this year after coming a game shy off the trophy in 2010.

As a right fielder, she got to experience the ups and downs of the softball team after going 3-13 her freshman season, making a complete 180 the next year by getting to the CCS Division III semifinals where they fell to Notre Dame-Salinas 2-1.

"Our coach had a talk with us at the beginning of my sophomore season," she said. "He told us that we had better talent than what our record showed and it wasn't all about individual performances but how we put that together to win. I think everyone took that to heart and that's how we got better."

Kelly, along with her older sister Jacey, got the better of Notre Dame last season at the same stage and with the same at stake, beating the Spirits 7-3 en route to the championship game where they held off Santa Catalina 5-4 to bring home the hardware.

"I've been playing softball since I was 9 years old," said Kelly. "I've always had my sister play alongside me, since she's a center fielder and the outfield captain, she's like an extension of me—someone I can rely on."

Kelly has managed to keep a 3.0 GPA playing sports year-round as well as playing club softball for the Inferno Gold.

"It's hard to time-manage when sports takes so much of your time," she said. "I had a couple of D's last year in bio and geometry, which I have to make up next semester to get credit. But playing sports makes it all worth it."