By BILL ARSENAULT
For the Daily Record/Sunday News

York, PA - Two of the hardest working athletes at this weekend's Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Outdoor Track Championships will be East Stroudsburg University juniors Dan Johnson and Ian Melhorn.

Johnson (York Suburban) will be competing in the 10-event decathlon and he will also try to score points for the Warriors in the high jump.

Melhorn (Eastern York) will be competing in the 100 and 200 meter dashes as well as running a leg on the powerful 4x100 and 4x400 relay teams.

"The PSAC is an extremely competitive conference," Warriors coach Joe Koch said. "But if Dan and Ian perform up to their abilities, they have a good shot at winning their events."

This is Johnson's third season chasing the decathlon title. He finished fifth as a freshman and second last season as a sophomore.

"The PSAC title is definitely within my grasp," he said. "I have a better understanding of every event, I'm stronger now than in the past two seasons and I'm more mentally focused on what I have to do within each event."

Last season, Johnson's runner-up total was 6,377 points. This season, his best to date is 6,131. Slippery Rock senior Brady Wert is the No. 1 seed with 6,176. A repeat of last year's performance could be enough to turn the tide. And, Johnson knows that.

"Practice is the key," he said. "I have great coaches and teammates that work with me on each event throughout the week. My coaches then choose what events I need to work on in the upcoming meet and I compete in those. It's prepared me for this weekend."

Heading into the meet, Johnson has set some goals.

"My goals are to win the PSACs, break the school record and go to the nationals," he said. "It will take everything I have, but then again, so do most things in life worth doing."

That 6,377 score from last year was an NCAA Division II provisional qualifier but Johnson didn't make the final cut.

Melhorn, on the other hand, did get to the NCAAs and earned All-American honors by helping the 4x100 finish eighth. The 4x100 (40.79) and 4x400 (3:14.29) finished first in the PSAC meet. Melhorn also finished fifth in the 200 (21.96). He has the best time (21.66) going into this week's meet. He's also seeded third in the 100 (10.75).

Melhorn is confident going into competition.

"I feel great heading into the championship," he said. "I'm finally healthy and ready to put down some fast times."

Melhorn was injured much of the indoor season but still was able to finish fourth in the 200 and help the 4x400 relay finish first.

"Now that I'm healthy, I'm expecting to win the 200 and both relays, place high in the 100 and continue my run to the nationals," he said.

As much as Melhorn enjoys relay racing, he likes the individual sprints even more.

"I like to show off my blessings without any help," he said. "But both of our relays are always fast and it's great to be part of a strong team and great athletes."

Having had a taste of the NCAAs (May 26-28 in Turlock, CA), Melhorn is itching to get back.

"I feel like I've got a chance to qualify in both relays and the 200," he said. "I would love to run at least one relay and go for the 200."

Koch isn't surprised at where Johnson and Melhorn are heading into the championships. "They're two of the most dedicated athletes on the team," the coach said. "All of their hard work, efforts and sacrifices continually pay off at meets and championships."

And, the fact that both are just juniors has Koch beaming as well.

"We hope to build on their accomplishments this season," he said. "Another year of training will make them faster and stronger. We hope they have stellar senior years to cap off their college careers."