LaFond and Melville bring individual B1G track and field titles to College Park

Thea LaFond and Amber Melville made Sunday an even better day to be a Terp. The men's and women's lacrosse teams advanced to the Final Four and in B1G news, Melville won the Big Ten outdoor high jump championship adding it to her indoor title and LaFond captured the B1G triple jump crown.

For me, it's particularly exciting to see Terrapins track and field athletes succeed. Just over three years ago, Maryland announced a list of eight sports it planned to cut from its athletics programs. Track and field was on that list but a last ditch effort raised enough money to keep the program alive. The triumph of athletes like LaFond and Melville shows what Terps can accomplish under budget restraints. Imagine what they might achieve if they were more richly funded.

As a team, Maryland finished 10th with 45 points, just a single point behind ninth place Wisconsin. In addition to Melville and LaFond, six Terrapins women earned points for the squad. Senior Myah Hicks (Alexandria, Va.) finished sixth in the 800 meters for three team points. Junior Chioma Onyekwere (Fairfax, Va.) picked up eight team points third in the shot pot and seventh in the discus. Freshman Peyton Wade (Aurora, Ill.) also registered points in two events by finishing  third inthe heptathlon and tying with her teammate LaFond for eighth place in the high jump. Sophmore Micha Powell (Toronto, Ontario) was the sixth Terp to add to her team's total with her fifth place finish in the 400 meter sprint.

But the day belongs to LaFond and Melville.

Amber Melville, a senior from North Carroll High School in Westminster, cleared 5'11.5", a height she has regularly cleared all season. She cleared the height on her second attempt and won the outdoor title to accompany her indoor title in the same event.

A graduate of Kennedy High School in Silver Spring, Thea LaFond captured the triple jump crown with a leap of 44'2.5". She also contributed half a team point by tying for eighth in the high jump and another six points by virtue of her 20'2.5" long jump which was good enough for third place. Also a senior, LaFond will, along with Melville, wrap up her Terrapins career in the NCAA Championships that begin Thursday, May 28th.

Congratulations and good competing to them both.