Sachem North’s Girls Track & Field team is proud to announce that senior track and field star Melissa Michels has committed to attend Northeastern University next fall.
Michels has accepted Northeastern University’s offer of a 60% – just over $33,000 per year – athletic scholarship. She will become part of a track and field program that has seen outstanding success under head coach Cathrine Erickson and her coaching staff.
The 2012-13 season saw Erickson lead the Northeastern Huskies to a combined 274 personal best performances between the indoor and outdoor seasons and 86 ECAC and IC4A qualifying performances, highlighted by two appearances in the NCAA championships by men’s team distance runner Eric Jenkins.
The women’s track team has long been a regional power and is now moving onto the national scene, as the Huskies have had nine NCAA qualifiers since the 2002-03 season.
While in the America East conference from 1989-2005, the Huskies won 20 America East indoor and outdoor championships, more than all other schools combined. Northeastern moved into the Colonial Athletic Conference (CAA) in 2005. The Huskies won Northeastern’s first CAA championship, winning the outdoor title in 2007. In their first four seasons in the CAA, the Huskies have taken home 13 individual titles and one relay title.
Northeastern’s sprints squad boasts a great deal of talent and success. The addition of Michels to the squad will give Northeastern greater depth and strength in events from 60 meters to 400 meters as well as in long jump.
She is the fastest sprinter in Sachem history. She holds school records in the 55, 60, 100 and 200 meter dashes. Michels was All-State in her junior indoor (55 m.) and outdoor seasons (100, 200 and 4×100 meter relay).
She counts several All-County honors and many post-season championships among her athletic achievements and awards since her freshman year.
Michels was a major force in Sachem North’s Winter Track & Field League 1 team championship in 2013 with wins in the 55 and 300 meter dashes as well as a second place finish in long jump at the meet. Melissa was a key part of Sachem’s League 1 championship season in her outdoor season as she scored 80 dual meet points in the always-tough Section XI League 2.
She also became the first Sachem sprinter to compete in the Millrose Games in her junior year as she qualified for the historic meet in the 55 m. dash and ultimately placed fourth in her exciting race in a school record 7.27 seconds. Among other achievements, she helped set Sachem records in the 4×100, 4×200 and 1600 m. medley relays in her sophomore and junior seasons.
Michels qualified for New York State (NYS) Championship meets in her sophomore and junior seasons. Melissa anchored Sachem’s 4×100 meter relay at States in her sophomore year. She placed sixth in the 55 m. dash at NYS’s Federation Championships in her junior year, breaking her own school record with a 7.25 second time. She again ran at States in her junior spring season as she earned All-State honors in the 100 and 200 meter dashes as well as in the 4×100 meter relay.
She is a two year team captain in her senior year and is one of the top-ranked sprinters on Long Island in both the 55 and 300 meter dashes. She is one of a handful of Suffolk County athletes to break the 16 foot barrier in long jump in the young season. Melissa will face many of New York State’s and the Northeast’s top sprinters in invitationals in December and January as she prepares for an exciting post-season beginning at League 1 Championship Meet in late December and culminating at New Balance Indoor Nationals in March.
Michels has enjoyed the same success in the classroom as she has on the track. She is ranked No. 21 in a graduating class of 553 seniors. Melissa is a member of five academic honor societies and she will have completed nine advanced placement course at the end of her senior year. She has been named a New York Scholar-Athlete in all of her athletic seasons since her freshman year. Michels was named Sachem North’s Suffolk Zone Award winner earlier this month.