Mellor eager to bring back tradition in return to Knights

Scot Mellor, West Holmes High School head boys and girls track and field coach and program director, is a 1984 West Holmes graduate and one of its shining athletes.

In 1983 Mellor earned AA All-Ohio cross country honors, becoming the first cross country athlete in West Holmes history to make it to OHSAA State Championships. In 1984 he was again a state qualifier and school record holder as part of the WHHS 4x800 team, which posted a time of 8:10.8, a record that stands to this day, along with his running mates Rich Moniger, Ted Macaulay and Jay Crane.

For Mellor, his biggest desire is to see the numbers rise back to the glory days when track at West Holmes was huge and to help today’s athletes become the best version of themselves they can be.

As he returns to lead his alma mater, Mellor has one major goal — to return the program to the successful numbers from years past that helped it become one of the most respected programs around.

Mellor said the slogan “bring back the tradition” is something they’ve talked a great deal about with the athletes and among the coaches this year.

With the track program now in its 61st season at WHHS, Mellor said he is working on making legacy T-shirts that feature all the state champions and state qualifiers from over the decades.

“We should all be proud of what this program has accomplished in the past,” Mellor said. “It’s a tremendous program with a great past. Incredible state champions like Lisa Cline and Graham Lane and a host of talented athletes who carved out their names among the all-time greats have competed here. We want to honor those accomplishments and the past success.”

He said he also wants to bring back some of these all-time greats to talk to today’s athletes.

He said having successful athletes from the past come in and talk to the athletes can provide an inspiring message that can energize kids to work even harder.

I look at guys like Rick Patterson, Gretchen Acker, Brayden Chaney, Bill Ashcraft and various others and I believe they could present some really great messages for the kids to hear,” Mellor said.

While he loves the idea of encouraging and coaching student-athletes for the track season, Mellor said he also recognizes one other important aspect of track and field.

“Track and field is one of the best sports to participate in to get athletes ready for every other high school sport,” Mellor said. “It’s competitive; it benefits athletes in strength, speed and stamina; and above all, for the most part it is just the athlete against the stopwatch. Kids can challenge themselves to improve and work hard to better themselves while competing against others.”

As for his own accomplishments at West Holmes, Mellor said he is honored to be part of the crew that set school records and school firsts, and he wants nothing more than to coach today’s athletes to have a similar experience in finding success in track and field.

“It’s about learning to compete and to give your very best,” Mellor said. “That’s the joy I want all of these kids to experience, and hopefully along the way, we can help bring back the tradition.”