VIRGINIA BEACH, VA – After a pair of Second Team All-American finishes last year, sophomore Austin Melvin vaulted his way to a third-place finish and a First Team All-American award Friday afternoon at the NCAA Division II Track and Field Championships in Virginia.

Melvin jumped into the competition on the first height and cleared the 4.86-meter (15' 11 ¼") bar on his first attempt and did the same at the second bar set at 5.01 meters (16' 5 ¼").

When the bar was raised to 5.16 meters (16' 11"), Melvin had his first miss of the day but cleared the bar on his second attempt to move on in the competition.

Only nine vaulters remained as the bar was raised to 5.26 meters (17' 3"). Six vaulters missed on three attempts and were knocked out of the competition and Melvin cleared the bar on his second try to advance with just three vaulters remaining.

After a pair of misses at 5.36 meters (17' 7") which would have tied the school record, Melvin passed to the next height at 17' 9" but missed on his first attempt and was knocked out.

Pole Vault champion Vlad Malykhin from Harding University cleared the 17' 9" bar and runner-up Dolan Gonzalez from Grand Valley State cleared 17' 7" on his second try before missing all three attempts at 17' 9".