The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Ten things you need to know about Kelly Melone
05.01.2006 | Softball
1. Never skip a beat. Kelly's nickname is "Hiccup". "I am around her 24-7 and she will randomly get a hiccup attack. I always threaten to hurt her if she doesn't stop, but of course, I'm kidding," says Senior Tina Boutelle. Junior Jacqueline Williams states, "She has chronic hiccups. It doesn't matter what we are doing, we are guaranteed at least one hiccup a day."
2. DeAnn's Triplets. This freshman is another part of the athletic trainer's three players who are always in the training room (seniors Cat Osterman and Jaclyn Daniels being the other two). "Some of the girls on the team have another name for Kelly: 'Broken Child'. She is very accident-prone, but always comes back quickly," says Boutelle.
3. Bring It On. Head Coach Connie Clark says, "Kelly is internally motivated. The bigger the challenge, the more she rises to the occasion." She plays very hard and gets the job done.
4. No trapeze artist. Senior Jaclyn Daniels says, "The girl has awful balance. She is constantly falling over things." Kelly fails her vision test every time she tries. Though how many of you would pass if you had to take it standing on one foot while shaking your head back and forth like the players on the team have to?
5. Run Kelly! Run! "Her ankle braces have caused her to develop this interesting run where she appears to be punching downward as she runs ... it's hilarious! During winter camps, when I was in a group with her, I would imitate the 'Kelly run' everywhere we went," says senior Amber Hall. She also has a tendency to smile for the camera while running!
6. Doesn't only hit the ball hard ... "Kelly likes to hit you when you aren't looking if you ever make fun of her," says sophomore MicKayla Padilla. She tends to hit her teammates in the arm and doesn't expect them to hit back, even though they sometimes do.
7. Silent but deadly. "You just can't get the girl to be quiet. (Just kidding!) She's quiet but she makes her presence known on the field," says Padilla. "She is a silent gem," says sophomore Desiree Williams.
8. Speed Dial. "The girl can text message on her cell phone without looking at it," says fellow freshman Kacie Gaskin. Not only does she text while not looking, she does it very quickly. There may have to be a speed texting contest between Kelly, Osterman, Desiree Williams and Jacqueline Williams to determine who can be crowed the Texas Softball texting champion.
9. "I need more cow bell!" Sophomore Rachael Cook says, "Coach Clark calls her 'Kel Mel', so it sounds like she is saying 'cowbell'." "Kel Mel" is short for Kelly Melone for those of you who did not catch on...
10. The old switch-a-roo. "Kelly is actually left-handed, but happens to throw and hit right-handed," says fellow freshman Crystal Saenz. In softball, a player will often be right-handed and play left-handed, but Kelly has the same strange 'condition' as former UT outfielder Melanie Jarrett, also a lefty who played softball right-handed.
