The Stony Brook women’s cross-country team has kicked off the season in impressive form.

The Seawolves were able to win the Wolfie Invitational, outrunning Sacred Heart, Quinnipiac, Fairfield and St. Joseph’s, and placed second in a meet with the likes of Providence, Marist and Columbia.

A good portion of this success can be attributed to Christina Melian, a junior and Staten Island native.

“I didn’t want to go too far away, but I didn’t want to stay too close. It’s a happy medium,” Melian said when recounting her reasons for choosing Stony Brook as her school over two years ago.

But ultimately, it was the team that sold the junior national champion. “And [Coach] Andy of course.”

She gravitated towards the great team chemistry and felt right at home with the rest of the Seawolves.

Melian won both the 4k and 5k races at the Wolfie Invitational, a steep improvement from her 6th place 4k finish from a year ago.

She cites, “Getting a lot more consistent training, more experience” as testaments to her progress.

However, she claims the knowledge she gained from her upperclassmen teammates is equally influential.

This knowledge proved valuable, as it helped produce a 14th place finish out of 207 runners in Friday’s annual Battle in Beantown meet, held in Boston.

With such a young team, Melian hopes to take what she has learned and reciprocate it to the lowerclassmen.

As a junior and one of the top runners, Melian will take more of a leadership role this season.

She wants to be just as influential on the lives of her less experienced teammates as her older and recently graduated teammates were on her.

Going into a race, Melian takes a composed approach, letting her training and experience take the wheel.

“I try not to over-analyze the races too much, but just go in,” she said. “Be competitive. Just go with it and see what I can do.”

This mindset seems to work, as her accolades and accomplishments range from winning both the Junior National Championship and ECAC Outdoor Championship in women’s 3000 in 2013, to winning this year’s Wolfie Invitational 4k by nearly 16 seconds.

As a health science major on the pre-med track, Melian hopes to one day become a
pediatrician.

It is always been what she is wanted to do, as sports and health have always played a major role in her life.

Melian hopes to turn these passions into a career in which she is able to help others.

Melian and the Seawolves hope to keep up the momentum at their next meet, the Princeton Invitational on Oct. 18.