WINSTON-SALEM, NC - At the conclusion of Day 1 of the 2015 NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships, the three student-athletes and two coaches on hand representing Wittenberg University were collectively walking in the clouds. It wasn't just what had been accomplished already, it related to the feeling that the program was going in the right direction.
Junior Aaron Melsop (Westerville, Ohio/DeSales) earned his first career All-America award in his first-ever national meet appearance, turning in a mark of 22-feet, 5.25-inches (6.84 meters) in the long jump to place seventh of 15 competitors in the event. Almost simultaneously, senior Victor Banjo (Sugarland, Texas/Stephen F. Austin) turned in the fifth-fastest time (6.89 seconds) in the 60-meter dash to advance to Saturday's championship race.
Shortly afterward, junior Brea Medlock (Galena, Ohio/Big Walnut) took to the track in a national meet for the first time. She placed 17th in the 60-meter dash in a time of 7.87 and 14th in the 200-meter dash.
While neither finish was good enough to move Medlock on to the championship races, she was thrilled with the experience nonetheless. She entered the national meet with a nagging injury that Wittenberg assistant coach Paris Hilliard said limited her slightly.
"It was so exciting," said Medlock, the 2015 North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Indoor Sprinter of the Year. "I'm just glad I was here, and I didn't really know what to expect. It's great that I got the experience, and I am already looking forward to the outdoor season."
Melsop enjoyed his breakthrough to All-America status, but he too was already thinking ahead.
"It was an amazing experience, and it was intense," said Melsop, who said he got a taste of the NCAA experience while a spectator at last year's outdoor championship meet. He was there to watch teammates Justin Yates and Laike Wallace compete.
"I told the coaches almost right after I got done that I was happy to get All-America honors, but I'm ready for outdoor and getting back to work to hopefully win a national championship. That's the goal."
Banjo isn't looking ahead just yet. He has another race to run at this meet, as he joins eight other runners in the championship heat of the 60-meter dash at 3:25 p.m. Saturday.
"I feel like I'm in great position," said Banjo, who finished fourth in the event to earn All-America honors in 2012 and 11th in 2014. "I was to just go out tomorrow and be focused.
"It definitely helps to have been in this kind of meet before. You understand how strong the competition is and what it takes to run this kind of a race."
Banjo, the 2012 and 2015 NCAC Indoor Sprinter of the Year, also earned All-America honors in the 100-meter dash at the 2012 NCAA Division III Outdoor Championships.
Hilliard said the first day of the meet was another positive step for the program, which has now advanced five different individuals to at least one national meet over the last two years.
"I'm ecstatic for these kids," Hilliard said. "They have put in a lot of hard work, and now they are really competing well at the highest level."
Written By: Ryan Maurer