News-Letter

Media Credit: Sam Olesky [Click to enlarge]

Freshman men's track distance runner Graham Belton really socked it to 'em this weekend at the Widener Invitational. Though he claims it was due to "a lot of hard work that finally paid off," there are a couple of other factors that contributed to his success.

Or not so much a couple, per se, but rather a pair. A pair of socks.

Belton - or "G.B." as he prefers to be called - has been wearing the same pair of running socks in every meet since ninth grade. Why? "Because one time I didn't have a second pair of running socks." True, the second time he wore them may have been purely circumstantial, but after five years with them, his relationship with the socks is no such thing. After an emotional pause, he collects himself. Like an old veteran would say about a faithful comrade, Belton says the socks "have been through a lot with me."

What G.B. might have meant by "a lot" may have been, 'breaking two freshman records over the weekend,' or 'running the 1,500 meter run with a time of 4:05.68 at the Messiah College Invitational,' or 'being first on the team in the 1,500 meter run.' We will probably never know, because if there's anything more mysterious than Graham Belton's magical socks, it may be the man wearing them.

Belton journeyed to Baltimore from his home in Atlanta, Ga. He attended a small international school and has been exposed to French since he was four years old. Also, he lived in Australia for a short time. The result? A thoughtful, quiet civil engineer who happens to run fast. Really, really fast. "I like running because it gets me places, I guess. Like Forrest Gump says."

Belton began "getting places" when he was in ninth grade - "just because all my friends did it." He claims that he didn't start taking the sport seriously until he started running cross-country in 11th grade. And though he doesn't mind being a track star, G.B. says his heart will always remain with cross-country running instead of track. "If I had a choice, I'd do cross country year round. It's just an easier sport for me."

Though he may be a quiet guy, the running world definitely heard the footfalls of Belton shatter two freshman records (the 1500-meter and the 5,000-meter) over the weekend. "I guess I would say the highlight of the season was this weekend," he said.

Continued...

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