All-American track and field athlete, captain of the Azusa Pacific University track team and student Daniel Bessolo shares his story of perseverance and growth.
Photo Courtesy of Benjamin Hsueh — Track and field athlete, Daniel Bessolo, preparing to race.
Daniel Bessolo has set records and continues to do so, which led him to the NCAA Division II championships in the 400-meter race. With a personal record of 46.93 seconds, Bessolo. who started his career at a junior college, has had his fair share of highs and lows. Majoring in psychology, he is not only an impeccable athlete but also an extraordinary student who has received many awards for his academic success.
Before Bessolo’s track career, he played basketball as a kid and through high school until he realized he wanted to shift his focus. He soon realized that he began to burn out in the sport, and the mental side of the sport started weighing heavily on him. He soon realized that he wanted to commit to another sport that was more individually focused. After running track to gain experience, he soon realized he was prospering in the sport. Competing individually, focusing on himself and soaring in the sport inspired him to commit to becoming a track athlete.
Bessolo’s first meet as an APU cougar was in 2020, where he ran a 49.7 in the 400m race. Since then, he has set a personal best of 46.93 in 2021 and continues to hit qualifying marks. Bessolo feels that the coaching staff at APU helped him reach his full potential, and continues to help him grow.
Before setting his personal best, coming from a junior college and being a part of the transfer program was a whole journey for him. Bessolo spoke on the fact that he was constantly switching coaches and couldn’t adapt to one system fully. However, when he came to APU, Bessolo said that he soon realized he was where he needed to be and quickly adapted to the APU track and field program, which helped him reach the level he is at today.
Track and field can impact an athlete’s mental and physical health incredibly due to the sport’s ups and downs and setbacks that can occur. Bessolo has endured physical injuries during his time at APU. Some of which made him question his running ability. God became his anchor during those times. His perseverance and drive to push forward were centered around his faith in God and the people around him, such as his teammates.
He has shown leadership qualities during his time on the track team. Bessolo is not only known for his talent but for his kindness and care for others. All of this led him to become the captain of the APU track team.
“It’s an honor; it’s a deep honor to me. I put a lot of time, attention and focus into being an athlete, a leader people can look up to … I have to make sure that the actions that I’m taking are going to reflect the school, reflect God, reflect, I mean, just the good behavior that I want to have.”
Recently, in Seattle, Washington, Bessolo competed on a distance medley relay team at the Ken Shannon Last Chance Invite, where the relay team became second in school history and 12th in the nation. The team members consisted of Bessolo, Nicolas Melendres, Ezekiel Nyberg and Ben Sumner.
Track and field requires a lot of dedication, time and commitment. Bessolo quickly realized that the sport was more than just running at a weekly meet. He soon realized that the sport requires a lot of time and commitment, which he started to give very quickly. He centers his sleep, meal plans, mental health focus and physical therapy around his track schedule to achieve his personal goals within the sport.
While learning more about Bessolo and his continued perseverance through our interview, I also gained more knowledge on his strategy of pushing through one of the toughest races in track: the 400m sprint. I asked him about his strategy in the 400m and how he breaks down the stages of the race.
“I think many different athletes have many different ways of running it. For myself, I like to just run as hard as I can for as long as I can. I feel that for the 400, you’ll never feel better than you did at the beginning of the race. So, I’ll go as hard as possible and just let myself kind of fizzle out. Then it’s like, ‘okay, the last 50 meters are coming. I know I’m fighting.’ I know I’m in for a fight, so the motivation comes in stronger; I run my best when I feel my best, and, as the race goes on, I feel a little worse. Then I’m like, ‘okay, it’s time to start working,’” he said.
Bessolo is a prime example that anything is possible through God. APU has helped Bessolo as an athlete, and it’s also helped him strengthen his faith, with Isaiah 40:31 being the verse that constantly pushes him to keep moving forward. As he rounds out his last year as an athlete on the APU track team, he shares the personal goals he has set for himself before he concludes his time competing at the collegiate level.
“My goals this year are I just want to go big, and I know our men’s team has been talking a lot about winning a national championship, and that right now is the goal. The goal is for a team championship. Individually and maybe a little selfishly, I want to win the open 400 at nationals, and I want to win the 4×4 relay at nationals with my team, and I think if we could do that, God willing, then that would be a beautiful end to my collegiate career,” he said.
Bessolo is more than an athlete and has a story of continued growth and perseverance that genuinely inspires others around him. He shows up for those around him as a leader and constantly motivates his team to achieve greatness. That is how the All-American athlete has risen to success at APU and continues to push past obstacles set against him.
Our full video interview can be found on YouTube on the Alana Morgan channel for “The Undeniable Show.”