Melanie Joerger

Class: Freshman Hometown: Thousand Oaks, CA High School: Thousand Oaks HS

Briefly... Melanie Joerger is in her first season with LMU Cross Country & Track...

High School... graduated from Thousand Oaks High School... ran cross-country and track for four years under coach Keena Carstenson... varsity athlete in cross-country and track for three years... named All-Ventura County in cross-country as a junior and senior... All-Marmonte league as a senior... ran the 3 mile in 17:07 at Woodbridge for PR... 5k PR of 18:03 at Woodward Park... named Most Improved (2008-2010), Most Reliable (2009), Runner of the Year (2010-2011)... All-Marmonte league as a junior in track... PR in 3200m in 10:57 and 1600m in 5:15 on the track... named Outstanding Distance Runner (2012)... received Superintendent's highest academic honor... named Ventura County Scholar Athlete of the Year... ran with her brother Kevin and Sam Worley in high school... ran against Kelli Sugimoto in high school... covered as a high school athlete by the Ventura County Star, Los Angeles Daily News and the Thousand Oaks Acorn...

Personal... Melanie Jean Joerger was born April 10, 1994 in Thousand Oaks, Calif. to parents Bonnie Talcott and Scott Joerger... father Scott ran cross-country and track... has two brothers, Kevin, who also runs for LMU Cross Country & Track, and Brian who runs cross-country and track at Thousand Oaks High School, and one sister Lexi... volunteered with Thousand Oaks Flyer youth track, tutor at Park Oaks Elementary, served as Lighthouse Church Worship Leader and Vacation Bible School counselor... considered the University of San Francisco and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo before deciding to go to LMU... chose LMU because it was "the most affordable, had a great team, and I love everything about it"... a business-finance major.