2013 Hall of Fame Inductee: Chris Mele '87

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2013 Hall of Fame Inductee Chris Mele '87

POTSDAM, N.Y. (07/10/2013)(readMedia)-- In the early 1980's, the SUNY Potsdam men's lacrosse team was a young program still trying to establish itself. Chris Mele, an All-American attackman who lit up the Bears' scoreboard for four seasons, helped put the program on the map.

Mele proved himself as a scorer at Guilderland High School under coaching greats Arty Waugh and John Hoteling. He loved the game, but wasn't sure about playing it at the college level. With the popularity of lacrosse just starting to take off in the Albany area, it was a place that was much overlooked by coaches on recruiting trips. As a result, Mele wasn't recruited to play college lacrosse.

Fortunately for the Bears, Mele chose Potsdam. However, he didn't choose it for the opportunity to be a college athlete.

"I'm not sure I knew they had a team to tell you the truth," Mele said. "I liked Potsdam and the mountains and area. So I really picked Potsdam for the school and not for lacrosse."

Mele arrived as a freshman in the fall of 1982 and was persuaded to play fall ball for then coach Chip Hunter. He enjoyed the experience enough to join the team in the spring.

Though his primary and preferred position was attack, Mele spent his first year with the Bears at several other positions. As a result he was limited to just two goals and an assist in 1983 as the team finished the season at 4-8.

After discussing his future with Hunter, Mele decided not play during the 1984 season.

"I wanted to play attack, but there were some upperclassmen that had those spots filled, said Mele. "He told me I was going to be a midfielder so I decided not to play."

A break from the sport allowed him more time to enjoy the Potsdam experience off the field.

"I had a lot of fun," said Mele. "I made a lot of friends from all over. Many of them weren't even associated with lacrosse. Potsdam was a friendly place and I really enjoyed a lot of hiking and did a lot of skiing. I did a lot of outdoors stuff."

Mele also took part in a common non-sports rivalry with Clarkson students across town.

"One of the things I remember about Potsdam most was the snowball fights against Clarkson," Mele added. "One year one of my buddies and I started it. We loaded up on the snowballs and ran through one of their dorms. They chased us back to the parking lot back at Potsdam and it was huge."

After a year away, Mele was drawn back to the lacrosse field in the spring of 1985. The Bears had a new coach in Jim Berkman, the uncle of current Potsdam head coach Rick. Berkman, now a member of the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame, was just starting his head coaching career. It lined up perfectly with Mele's comeback.

"He was a fantastic coach," Mele said of the 10-time national championship coach at Salisbury University. "We had a great season and it was a lot of fun. I learned a lot from him."

Mele returned to the attack position and broke out with 42 goals and 10 assists for 52 points. He combined with All-American and Bears' all-time leading scorer Joe Schoener (45g-39a-84 pts) to help Potsdam to a then program best 9-5 record. The performance earned him a spot on the All-SUNYAC team.

Lacrosse is a physical sport and the athletes that play it are tough, but when asked, Mele agreed that today's players typically play with better conditions. That is especially true with the weather and climate in Potsdam. Before artificial turf, the season began in snow and frozen ground and ended in the mud.

"We'd lose balls in the mud," said Mele. "Ankle deep mud. In Potsdam the puddles would freeze over and you'd get all cut up by the ice. Players today that play on the turf don't have to deal with that anymore. Yeah, we played in some pretty bad conditions. There wasn't a lot of grass by the time we were done. We were usually playing in dirt or mud."

The conditions didn't faze Mele and his teammates, but there were other obstacles to face. As he entered his third season in 1986, he was also getting to know his third head coach in Mike Branski. While Mele enjoyed all of his Potsdam coaches, the constant change was challenging.

"The coaching varied," Mele said. "They definitely had different styles. Having three coaches in four seasons isn't a lot of fun, but all of them were good guys and good coaches. It was just a lot of change."

Despite new leadership, Mele continued to thrive on offense. He had the strongest season of his career with 43 goals and 14 assists for 57 points to lead the 7-8 Bears in scoring and return to the All-SUNYAC team.

The 1987 season was another great one for Mele and the Bears. Serving as team captain for the second straight year, Mele torched opponents for 55 points (38-17-55) and helped Potsdam match its single-season best in wins with a 9-6 mark. He capped his career with his third-straight all-conference selection and was named the Bears' second lacrosse All-American. Mele's career totals of 125 goals and 42 assists for 167 points rank him fourth on Potsdam's all-time scoring list.

In his four seasons at Potsdam, Mele enjoyed the privilege of playing with some of the Bears' best. This group included Schoener, Michael 'Josey' Wales, Steve Okun, Mike McKercher and Dan Kelly. The combination provided some very memorable moments in the lacrosse program's history.

Mele graduated from Potsdam in 1987 with a B.A. in Physics. Though his collegiate playing days were over, he looked to coaching to stay involved with lacrosse. Starting with Waugh and Hoteling, Mele had always had inspirational coaches that made him strongly consider becoming one himself. He started as an assistant at Guilderland High before moving on to the same position at Albany State. He spent three seasons with the Great Danes.

Mele lived in the Albany and Rochester areas for work and coaching for several years before relocating to Austin, Texas in 1994. His brother Greg had attended the University of Texas for graduate school and Mele liked what he saw when he visited, including the lack of snow.

"The economy in Austin is very strong and has been for a long time," said Mele. "So there's a lot of building, a lot of growth and construction. As far as the culture in Austin, it's a pretty diverse place. If you move to Houston, Dallas or San Antonio, there's definitely a cultural difference (from New York). But there are a lot of technology businesses in Austin, so there's a lot of different kinds of people here."

Mele joined ECOSystems Landscape Services the same year he moved to Austin and became part-owner of the rapidly growing company in 1995. Today he is ECOSystems' Executive Vice President for Construction Services.

In addition to his career, moving to Texas gave Mele the opportunity to be a lacrosse missionary in a place dominated by football. The sport has seen tremendous growth in the state and Mele has played his part. When he arrived there were only a handful of high schools with lacrosse programs in Texas, but that number has grown to between 60-70 today. He coached high school programs at St. Andrew's Episcopal School as well as McNeil High School. He has also served as an instructor for Trilogy Lacrosse's camps and clinics in the area.

Mele says he is currently "retired" from coaching, which gives him more time to spend with his family. He married his wife Anne in 1996 and they have two children. Daughter Emma is 16 and son Evan is 14. Like their dad both are very talented athletes, however they excel on the soccer field.

"I think they realized I knew too much about lacrosse so they picked something I didn't know anything about," joked Mele. "They were both very smart in doing so I imagine."

Mele will be inducted to the Bears Hall of Fame this Saturday.