Siry successful in soccer and track

Kelly Siry is a track and soccer athlete here at Plattsburgh State and her love for sports extends all the way back to her childhood.

“I’ve been playing soccer since I was five,” Siry said. “I played T-ball, baseball, softball, and then basketball throughout high school, volleyball — my family’s all sports-oriented, so it was always, ‘There’s a new sports team? Might as well be on it, try it out.’”

Siry is a junior now, and has been running track in college since her freshman year. She runs 4 by 4, 4 by 1 and 400 hurdles, and throws javelin.
On the pitch she is also an outside midfielder, Siry also thinks that most people should run, and that running can be very beneficial.

“For me, running is therapy, and it clears your mind, gets you going,” Siry said. “I’d be a mess if I wasn’t running. I think it’s definitely solid therapy.”

Her love for track began in her sophomore year of high school. She played softball her freshman year, but after realizing the only part she liked about softball was running the bases, she switched over to track.

After graduation, one of Siry’s definite goals is to start running half-marathons and marathons.

“Listen to your body,” she said. “Doing soccer and track, we have spring soccer season. There’s times when I’ll go to track practice, and then I have two hours, and I go to soccer practice. I’ll be overworking on my body, and sometimes I need to stop.”

Siry said that although she doesn’t have professional role models, she has always looked up to her older sister, who is two years older.
The two of them played soccer and ran track together.

“Teammates and family are more my role models than professional athletes,” Siry said.

Head coach of the PSUC women’s track and field team Nick Jones spoke highly of Siry’s work ethic, saying, “She’s always staying after or coming early. She’s working very intensely.”

For Jones, a drive like Siry’s definitely stands out.

“She does a lot of events and a lot of different events, so that’s what stands out to me.”

Jones also said she influences the team’s performance by just working hard at every meet, Jones said. “She’s always very aggressive, and that’s what I like to see.”

Track and field teammate junior Megan Schweizer agreed that Siry has a strong presence to other team members.

“If someone runs by, she’ll be like, ‘Hey! You’re doing great! Good job! You look good out there!’ It’s really motivational. It makes people happy,” she said.

Jones said other members on the team can learn how to better manage their time.

To view more videos, visit our Multimedia page.“Kelly has tremendous GPAs every year,” he said. “She’s put in her time at the library, she’s put in her time here, she’s put in her time lifting, on the track (and) doing technique work. She’s really good at managing her time.”

Her various workouts — in addition to running and javelin-throwing – include Olympic lifts, plyometric work, hurdles, jumping into sandpits and throwing medicine balls.

“She finds the time to do everything she needs to do even though it might be stressful,” Jones said, “and she might not have that much free time, she manages to get everything done.”

Siry said that she is always trying to push herself beyond personal limits.

“(It’s) seeing how far you can go and how much better you can get day by day, week by week and the beginning of the season to the end of the season,” Siry said, smiling, referring to what it is about track that appeals to her. “So at the beginning of the season, you’re always running, you start peaking and by SUNYACs, it’s like, ‘Wow’, you’re really accomplishing stuff, and seeing that change, and knowing you can accomplish more, and being able to push yourself. I like that.”

Email Timothy Lyman attimothy.lyman@cardinalpointsonline.com