VIDEO: MELISSA BAKER NICE'S HALL OF FAME INDUCTION
Melissa Baker Nice finished her career as one of the top performers in the history of the Bridgewater College women’s track and field program.
Nice qualified for the NCAA championship five times and earned All-America honors twice during the 2001 season. She was an All-American in the indoor 400 meters and in the outdoor 400 meter hurdles.
She won a total of 23 Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) titles during her career – 16 individual titles and seven relay titles. She was named the 2001 ODAC Athlete of the Year in both indoor and outdoor track. Nice was also a key performer for the Eagles in 1998 when the team won the ODAC Outdoor Track and Field Championship.
Nice holds school records in the indoor 400, outdoor 400, outdoor 400 hurdles and as a member of the outdoor 4x400 relay team. She still holds the ODAC record in the 400 hurdles with a time of 1:01.94.
Nice was also a standout in the classroom and graduated cum laude. She was influential in writing the Bridgewater College Code of Ethics and was a member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes leadership committee.
Following graduation, Nice taught in the Roanoke City School system from 2001-2004. She was also an assistant track coach at Lord Botetourt High School. Nice coached six all-state performers at the school, and the 2004 team won the district title.
Nice returned to Bridgewater as an assistant track and field coach from 2005-2012. She coached nine All-ODAC hurdlers and was an assistant on the staff that coached national heptathlon champion Courtney Hartman.
For her outstanding performance, both on the track and in the classroom as a student at Bridgewater College, Melissa Baker Nice is deserving of induction into the College’s Athletic Hall of Fame.
