Cabot athlete signs scholarship for triathlon

Melanie Abbott is definitely a trendsetter. Abbott, 17, a senior at Cabot High School, recently became the first athlete from Arkansas to sign a college scholarship in triathlon, according to Drury University. Abbott signed with the Springfield, Missouri, college in December. Triathlon is not yet an NCAA championship sport but is listed as an emerging sport. The 2018-19 season will be the first year for the Panthers to compete in the triathlon. A triathlon consists of swimming, running and cycling. Abbott has a swimming background, which she started when she was 10 years old and in the fourth grade. “My parents signed me up for some swim lessons because they wanted me to be water safe,” she said. “I took CPR lessons here at the Cabot Community Center. That was the start.” Abbott said when she first started learning to swim, she “was the worst one in the pool.” “I wouldn’t put my face in the water … I wouldn’t put my face under the water,” she said. “I was underperforming, but I loved being in the water. If I didn’t have lessons, I’d be coming up here on Saturday and Sundays every chance I could to get better.” Her persistence paid off as she made the Cabot Dolphins Swim Team. “I started learning to swim, and I thought I could do it all with my head up,” Abbott said. “I learned that I was going to have to face my fears and put my head in the water. And it kind of took off from there.” Abbott went from swimming from a few times to five times a week. “Now I swim 14 practices a week,” said Abbott, who is a member of the Cabot Lady Panthers swim team. “I started progressing. I did swim meets at age 11.” When she got to junior high school, she started running cross country for Cabot Junior High School South. “My dad (Michael Abbott) started running just for fun,” Melanie Abbott said. “After swim practice, I started running with Dad. When the opportunity came to join junior high and they had a cross-country class, I signed up for that. I really enjoyed that. It was something that I found out that I could work really hard at and improve quickly.” For two years, Abbott ran for Cabot South and improved both years. However, she said her body was taking a toll from both running and swimming. “I continued to run until my ninth-grade year,” she said. “I started getting a lot of injuries because of swimming and running at a competitive level. I started getting a lot of overuse injuries.” At that point, Abbott discovered that the triathlon was an option for runners and swimmers. “That really intrigued me,” she said. “I realized that I was going to need a bike. These bikes are really expensive. Starting a new sport that I had no experience in, and I didn’t even know if I could ride a bike — that wasn’t something my parents were going to invest thousands of dollars into.” To get the bicycle she needed, Abbott started teaching swim lessons and lifeguarding. “My sophomore year, I bought the bike,” she said. “I started training. I did the first couple of triathlons. They went really well.” Abbott said she enjoys the cycling part of the sport. “It was a different experience from always being in the pool and always running,” she said. “You can ride 50 miles and see so much of nature and Arkansas. Mentally, it’s kind of an escape for me.” Abbott said the triathlon starts with a 750-meter swim, then depending upon the race, 12 to 20 miles biking, then running 3 miles. “Being primarily a swimmer and it being my strongest of the three, it really gives me an advantage because it allows me to get out in front and try to stay ahead and lead the pack,” Abbott said. Abbott has competed in eight triathlons, including several triathlons in the state, including events in Bryant, Northwest Arkansas, Arkadelphia and Eureka Springs. “My first year, I was winning my age group,” Abbott said. “I was placing first among girls who are 16 to 19. As I’ve continued to train and improve on the bike, this past summer, I’d be the top female finisher. I was even beating some of the boys. I just see them as another person when I race.” Abbott said she enjoys the triathlon because it is a way to incorporate swimming and running together, along with cycling. “Whenever I’m training, I’m in my own head for so long,” she said. “You aren’t practicing with people. It’s you and the bike; it’s you in the pool or you running. It gives you time to think everything through and work toward a goal.” Abbott was a junior at Cabot when she started thinking about colleges. “I wanted to continue competing in either swimming or triathlon,” she said. “Whenever I started looking at colleges, academics came first. I want to pursue journalism. I wanted a college with a good journalism program. I made that a big priority.” Cabot swim coach Vicki Wadley thinks Abbott will do well in triathlons. “It’s a really unique opportunity,” Wadley said. “She’s the first Cabot kid to get a triathlete scholarship. She works hard. She definitely deserves it.” Abbott said she also wanted an atmosphere where she could continue to improve athletically. “When I went on my recruiting trip to Drury, I was really impressed that I got to sit down with the professors, one on one,” Abbott said. “I got to talk to the head of the journalism department. The teachers there get to know you. That is something I really look forward to. At a lot of bigger colleges, you’re sitting in a class of 300. At Drury, that’s not the experience.” Abbott also said the triathlon coaches at Drury, Brad Hamman and Doug Fredrick, are great. “They talk about you as a person. … They put values and morals first, and they wanted someone who would work really hard,” she said. “Seeing they valued the work ethic, I felt that would help me improve the most. That was their priority. “I felt like I fit in really well there.”

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Cabot High School Athletics

CABOT ATHLETE SIGNS SCHOLARSHIP FOR TRIATHLON

MARK BUFFALO

Arkansas Online | 2/4/2018

PHOTO CREDIT: Mark Buffalo