Melvin Lister, III
Born: New York, N.Y.

Graduated: Leavenworth H.S., 1996 / Butler Comm. College, 1998 / Arkansas, 2002

Before Melvin Lister III moved to Leavenworth, Kan., as a teenager, sports were not a focal point.
Instead, he spent his time after school practicing the saxophone with his father.
“I had never really thought of playing sports,” he said.

It didn’t take long after the move, however, for Lister to learn that he possessed natural athletic
talent. As a freshman at Leavenworth High School, he quickly excelled in football. The success only
increased Lister’s motivation to improve.

“I ran for a touchdown in a freshman game, and they put a photo of it on the front page of the
sports section,” Lister said. “I’m not sure if the person who did that has any idea, but that’s what
fueled Melvin Lister. It was fun. I wanted to see where sports could take me.”

Months later, Lister began competing in track and field and then won a state championship in the
triple jump. It was only the start. The two-time Olympian captured national titles in high school, junior college, NCAA Division I and
at the U.S. Olympic Trials.

Lister was born Aug. 29, 1977, in New York. His family moved to Leavenworth when he was in the
eighth grade.

He won eight Kansas state championships at Leavenworth High, earning first place in the triple
jump all four seasons (1993-96) while winning twice in the 400 meters (1995, 1996) and achieving
one state title each in the long jump (1994) and 200 meters (1996). During high school, Lister
seized his first national titles by winning the long jump at the USA Juniors and the triple jump at the
National Scholastic Outdoors.

The success continued at Butler County Community College in El Dorado. Lister won a
total of five individual national junior college championships in the long jump and triple jump
and two national titles as the anchor on the distance-medley relay.

Lister earned five more national titles for the Arkansas Razorbacks. He won the triple jump at
the NCAA Indoor in 1999 and the Outdoor in 2000. He also captured long jump titles at the
1999 and 2000 Indoor and the 1999 Outdoor.

He qualified for the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney by winning the long jump at the U.S.
Olympic Trials with a distance of 27 feet, 3 3⁄4 inches.

At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Lister again, represented the United States. This time, he
earned a spot in the triple jump after winning the U.S. Olympic Trials. His winning mark of 58 feet, 4
inches was a U.S. Olympic Trials record.

Lister was named to the University of Arkansas Sports Hall of Honor in 2017.