[12/19/02]There were plenty of soccer forwards in the National Junior College Athletic Association who spent a little extra time practicing their passing skills instead of their shooting skills when Hinds Community College edged closer on the schedule.

Perhaps a few more would have loved to practice being invisible especially those that had fallen under the defensive microscope of Lady Eagles’ marking back Melanie Mendrop.

As it is, Mendrop made a habit of dissecting offensive players’ talents on her way to earning National Junior College Athletic Association’s All-American honors.

“It is hard for a defender to get chosen because a defensive player doesn’t have the stats,” Lady Eagles coach Patti Johnson said. “For Melanie to win this award is a huge accomplishment.”

The former Warren Central standout did not have the stats, but as long as Johnson was putting the two-time All-Region player on opposing offensive forwards, they weren’t getting their stats either.

The Lady Eagles, ranked 11th nationally, allowed only seven goals all season as they won their fifth straight state and region championship while posting a 17-0 regular-season record.

“She is a big impact in games,” Johnson said. “Whoever she was defending, she pretty much just shut them down.”

Just ask Lindsey Kayal, the nation’s third leading scorer from Young Harris, Ga.

Kayal scored 40 goals with 25 assists on the year, but was deemed a non-factor in the game because of Mendrop’s defensive efforts.

“Everybody tells me I’m mean,” Mendrop said. “I guess I’m just an aggressive player. I’m not going to back down from anyone.”

Mendrop wasn’t the only former Warren County player to earn postseason honors. Michelle Beatty and Cassie Griffing, both instrumental members of not only Hinds’ success, but key cogs in Vicksburg High’s state championship run a season ago, earned All-Region 23 honors.

Griffing and Beatty will be back next year, but Mendrop’s career is over. She said she doesn’t have any plans to continue playing with a senior college.

Instead, Mendrop will attend the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson to become a dental hygienist, perhaps estimating all the new smiling faces within the NJCAA when they no longer have to deal with her defensive presence.

“We did have a good season, I’m disappointed it went by so fast,” said Mendrop, who worked for a local dentist while in high school. “I just went out and played like I was supposed to, and enjoyed doing it.”