On the last lap of the mile at the Mid-American Indoor conference championship, Melissa Thompson was in third place, fighting to keep up with the leading pack of teammate Juli Accurso and Eastern Michigan’s Victoria Voronko.
With less than 200-meters to go, Thompson had to close the gap.
A minute after the lap bell rang, Thompson laid on the ground, completely out of breath. With 30-meters left she took the lead from Voronko and finished in a new MAC-indoor record time of 4:48.22 minutes.
“I can’t put into words how much this means to me,” Thompson said. “It’s definitely a dream come true.”
Years ago, no one could have imagined her going this far in running — she had played soccer since she was four. It was a coincidence that she found running, as her brother asked her to come out for the cross-country team.
Then Thompson’s running talent broke through.
“In my second race I was first overall,” she said.
But she didn’t want to give up on soccer.
“The cross-country coach just let me go to the soccer training. Saturday I lined up for the race in the morning and in the afternoon I went to play soccer,” she said.
Two sports at the same time became a norm for the Westerville native. In the spring, she excelled in track while competing in a soccer club. It wasn’t unusual for her parents to grab her right from the finish line and drive her to another athletic competition.
“It gave me a lot of different experiences with different groups of people,” she said. “All that made (the stress) worth it.”
The stress, however, didn’t hurt her results. Her sophomore and junior year she was named to second-team all-State – and then quit soccer her senior year to concentrate on running.
“I actually did worse that cross-country season than in any seasons where I did both,” she said. “We really underestimated how much soccer training played into how well I did in cross country.”
For years, Thompson had been kept at a low mileage level because of soccer. The factor played into choosing a college.
“(Ohio) made me feel like I will be doing well with my low mileage and slowly work me to a level I needed to be at as a Division I athlete,” she said.
With an increased mileage, the then-freshman placed 20th at the cross-country MAC championship. Her progress, however, was halted during her sophomore year as knee and hamstring injuries made her struggle.
“It really took some re-focusing on my end to get back to where I am junior year,” she said.
Ohio’s head track and field coach Clay Calkins agreed.
“She has really stepped up in her training to achieve the goals she set out for herself,” he said adding that she could make it to the NCAA championship.
Thompson, too, doesn’t want her school record to be the last impact she has made on the program.
“Achieving one goal really wants you to go for more,” she said. “I’m not done yet.”
am794811@ohiou.edu
