When it comes to cross country coaches, ESF’s Mike Melfi is one of the best.

He must be, to produce national champions in weather like this.

“One of the sayings we have here is, ‘find a way,’" said Melfi, the fifth-year cross country and track coach at ESF. "This team truly finds a way to make it work. These conditions, we’re used to it. It’s Syracuse, so, we find a way.”

The Mighty Oaks found a way to win not one, but two national titles in Virginia last month. One for the men, and one for the women, giving Melfi three national titles in five years as head coach.

“To go down there this year and win both the men and women is really, truly amazing," Melfi said. "Our goal is to win a national championship, and we tell them what it’s going to take to do that.”

And that’s right in step with the approach he uses at his other job, where he wears a different hat — actually, no hat at all. At Jamesville-Dewitt High School, where he’s not Coach Melfi, he’s Mr. Melfi, in room G19.

Mr. Melfi is a resource teacher at J-D. That means he helps kids who need a little extra help in subjects like math and English. He says he’s pretty good at it because...

“I have this great ability of having patience," said Melfi.

He also has a burning desire to motivate, so he uses the same words with his students that he does with his runners, hanging posters around his room trying to coach up his kids. Not for trophies or medals, but something much more rewarding--that tell-tale sign he’s reached the finish line.

“You sort of get that ‘a-ha’ moment out of a student," he said excitedly, "and you know it’s clicked.”

And he says it clicked with him not too long ago that, while once a highly-competitive local runner, now he and his longtime assistant Todd Halbig are much better mentors than milers.

“Y’know, maybe 10 to 15 years ago, I would be at the top," Melfi said, referring to times when he and Halbig run with their pupils. "But, the fact that we’re not there, that we’re getting better runners in here and I’m probably getting slower, that’s OK.”

So, for now, Melfi will focus on coaching his kids instead.

And, of course, soaking in that Central New York weather.

“It’s gorgeous," Melfi laughed. "Syracuse, New York!"