National championships in any sport beckon the best that sport has to offer.

In track cycling, one of the best resides right here in the Lehigh Valley.

James Mellen of Schnecksville earned multiple national medals, including two national championships, during the 2016 USA Cycling Junior and Elite Track Cycling National Championships at the Valley Preferred Cycling Center in Breinigsville in late July.

Before any events were even completed, Mellen considered himself victorious.

“I was really happy [to find out nationals were at VPCC],” Mellen said. “I got to sleep in my own bed and eat my own food. Having my own support structure here and not having to transport the bike or take a plane really helps.”

The 20-year old competed the last time nationals were at T-Town back in 2013 when he was a junior rider. Now he is a member of the elite ranks, competing against all the other professional riders in the United States, including Olympians.

Mellen felt confident with how he was riding heading into nationals as his training this year has all been for that one week of competition.

“We trained for nationals,” he said. “We tapered for that. I was really happy that our times were getting quick and everyone (on his team) was going well.”

The former Parkland Trojan competed in the match sprint tournament where he earned a bronze medal earlier in the week-long event that spanned from July 25-31.

During time trials, Mellen clocked a 10.342, which is the fastest time an American has on that particular track, besting the previous mark held by Olympic gold and silver medalist, Marty Nothstein.

The next day Mellen earned a national championship in the men’s keirin competition, beating fellow Sprinters Edge teammates and other riders from around the country to earn that top spot on the podium.

Mellen completed his part of competition by teaming up with those same Sprinters Edge teammates he battled with the day before. Mellen, Jamie Alvord and David Espinoza competed in the men’s team sprint.

The trio qualified in the top position after time trials and went on to earn a national championship in the night session, posting a time of 1:02.796. That was Mellen’s seventh career national championship.

With all that he accomplished during the week, Mellen was happiest with his time during qualifying for the match sprints on the first day because of where it could take him.

“I really wanted to nail that 200-meter time trial time,” Mellen said. “That time put me in the emerging international time standard. We believe that time may be good enough to qualify for the Pan-American games, but we aren’t sure. My next goal after nationals is to qualify for Pan-Ams and hopefully I did that.”

With all of the success Mellen had, as well as his teammates, during the national championships, he credits it to the team’s coach, Andrew Harris.

“Andrew is really the master of the puppets,” he said. “He put together the program and is with us every day to really get us ready to go. I feel like you can’t not succeed with his program because he is such a great coach.”

As he awaits his Pan-Am Games fate, the Penn State junior moved into his dorm at State College last weekend. He continues to pursue his degree in Bio-Medical Engineering as he chases his goal of being an Orthopedic Surgeon.

A somewhat nontraditional student-athlete, Mellen said he will do what he can to continue his training for Pan-Ams, for additional national championships, for his sponsor ABE Fence, and for that distant goal, the Olympics in Tokyo in 2020.