Clarion Athletics

An outstanding two-sport athlete, Melissa (Yearous) O’Neil put up great performances on the hardwood and in track and field as a high jumper for the Golden Eagles from 1998 – 2001. 

A four-year starter as a guard/forward for the women’s basketball team coached by “Gie” Parsons, Melissa scored 1,003 career points, collected 524 career rebounds, 192 steals and 169 assists. She finished her career ranked second in free throw shooting percentage (77.5%), 10th in scoring, 12th in rebounds and fifth in steals. She set a Clarion and PSAC record during her junior year of making 45 consecutive free throws. Melissa led Clarion in scoring with 10.6ppg as a senior with 127 rebounds, 53 assists and 41 steals. As a junior she averaged 14.7ppg, hauled down 183 rebounds, 46 assists and 77 steals. She was an All PSAC-West selection both seasons. In track and field, coached by Pat Mooney, she was the 1999 and 2000 PSAC high jump champion in outdoor track and also set the school record in the high jump at 5-feet, 6 ½ inches. A fourth place finisher at PSACs in 2001, she saved her best for last going to the NCAA D-II Nationals and placing tied for fourth  to become Clarion’s first NCAA Division II female track and field All-American and the first All-American since Taryn Carter in 1981. 

The native of Des Moines, Iowa, and a 1997 graduate of West Branch High, she currently resides in Indianola, Iowa, with her husband, Jeremy. The couple have a daughter, Katelyn, and a son, Gerald “Patrick.” She is CEO of Central Iowa Shelter and Services.