Simon Desta '20 Recruiting Profile

The things that influenced me in my life the most are sports, family, and friends.  Being able to be myself on the track or around my family and friends helped mold me into the person I am today. I never believed in giving up, no matter the circumstance because when you give up you give in, and when you give in you lose, its as simple as that. My family plays a big part in who I am today. They are the ones that keep me going in life. Growing up I wasn't the largest runner, however, I did not let that stop me. That was it, That is what drove me to push harder and harder. Knowing some runners had a physical advantage on me made me want to run like there was no tomorrow. My track career has been quite interesting. I was told by my Eritrean father to run long-distance races because east African have a history of winning in that category. However, I wanted to try other things like high jump, sprints.  Until one day I met Hurdles. Started out on sophmore season. I didn't really take it serious but once I started to apply myself, I made it all the way to States in one season! If that's not hard work, I don't know what is. I will be planning to run hurdles in this upcoming season.  If track taught me one thing, its to never give up no matter what place you are in on the track or where you are in life.  

Thank you,

Simon Desta