[PIC] Two high jumpers earn All-American one year after UMD cut program
EUGENE, ORE. — Amber Melville and Amina Smith have done just about everything together over the past three years. The Terrapins track and field teammates constantly joked around before practices, competed fiercely during them and then often headed to the mall together afterward.
After this university announced potential cuts, depending on individual funding efforts, to eight sanctioned athletic teams in fall 2011, the futures of the two high jumpers and the rest of the women’s track and field team were uncertain. When they learned their outdoor team had avoided the chopping block, Melville and Smith spent countless hours training side by side to prove they were worthy of the opportunity.
Saturday at the NCAA track and field championships at Hayward Field, the friends continued their trend. They both placed in the top 10 — Melville, a junior, earned seventh and Smith, a senior, earned fifth — in the high jump to secure first-team All-America honors. Together.
“It’s surreal,” Melville said after the event. Then she glanced at Smith, who stood to her left. “It’s just like, ‘What. This is awesome.’”
Junior Thea LaFond was the other Terp represented in the championships, and she competed in the triple jump and high jump. LaFond didn’t place in the top 10 of either event, but Smith said having three Terps in Eugene helps bring exposure to a program that was on the brink of folding.
“Today, we’re not only jumping for ourselves, but we’re jumping for our team and the guys as well,” Melville said.
LaFond, Melville and Smith have established themselves as three of the nation’s top high jumpers, and they’ve fostered a unique atmosphere at practices. The three women,— all natives of this state, have known each other since before high school and are close friends.
But they also keep each other honest on the track.
“Practice is a minicompetition for us,” Smith said. “It’s very friendly, and we’re never mad if somebody does better than you. But it’s competitive.”
Added Melville: “We always push each other to go to the next level. If I didn’t have anybody else I feel like it’d be harder for me, but now that I have other teammates, it’s easier for me to get to where I want to be.”
Melville said that coach Andrew Valmon pushes the three jumpers through a rigorous training schedule. Valmon, who coached the U.S. national team at the 2012 Olympic games in London, has helped the Terps remain competitive after the athletic department cutbacks.
LaFond, Melville and Smith appreciate Valmon’s intensity, and they lean on each other to keep the mood light at practice.
“Our coach kind of stays on a strict schedule at times,” Melville said. “But we, as girls, we just have fun with it.”
On Saturday, Melville and Smith reaped the benefits of their training with their first-team All-America honors. Melville cleared the bar at six feet on her best jump, and Smith made it over the bar at 6 feet, 1.25 inches.
LaFond came in 15th in the high jump by clearing the bar at 5 feet, 9.75 inches to claim the honor of second-team All-America.
“This group did a great job of making Maryland history and setting the stage for the road ahead,” Valmon said in a news release.
The program will move forward without Smith, who graduated last month. The senior said ending her college career with a fifth-place finish at the national championships left a “bittersweet feeling.”
On one hand, she solidified herself as one the program’s most accomplished high jumpers. On the other, she won’t be able to crack quips at practices with LaFond and Melville next year.
But is Melville going to miss Smith?
“Oh no,” the junior said. “We’re going to see her plenty.”
Smith then nudged Melville and added: “I’m from Maryland, so I’m going to be there cheering them on at as many meets as I can. I mean, we’re sisters.”
