All on the line

After his win at the 2003 Indiana State High School Track and Field Championships in the 400-meter dash, former Hoosier star David Neville set his sights on the Olympics.

Going into his freshman year at IU, Neville received bad news. An English class he took in high school unexpectedly was not counted on the NCAA clearing house list, making him ineligible.

Despite not being able to practice with the IU team or receive a scholarship, Neville did workouts alone on the track and had his girlfriend, who is now his wife, Arial, time him.

He also participated in the Marching Hundred Band and only three years later he signed a professional contract with Nike.

Beijing Olympics
This summer all of his hard work paid off as he qualified to compete in the Olympics and earned a bronze medal in the 400-meter dash and a gold medal as part of the 4x400-meter relay team.

“The bronze in the 400 was wonderful,” Neville said in an e-mail. “To know that I put all my hard work and effort into this is something that I will always hold deep in my heart.”

Going into the 400-meter race, Olympic Trials champion LaShawn Merritt and 2004 gold medalist Jeremy Wariner received the bulk of the attention, but Neville stayed focused.

Neville placed his feet in the starting blocks in lane nine, a difficult lane because the other runners are not visible from the start. As he came to the last 100 meters he appeared to have third place locked up. Then, as the rest of the field closed in on him, he did the only thing he could think of, he dove head first across the finish line, beating the fourth place finisher by a mere .04 seconds.

As he crossed the finish line fans from across Indiana, including a former teammate of his, junior Jeff Coover, screamed at their televisions and exploded in excitement.

“He put everything on the line,” Coover said. “It was really inspiring.”
Neville’s medal in the 400 represents the first IU track medal in an individual event since Willie May took silver in the 120-yard hurdles in 1960.

Being a Hoosier
“Inspiration,” “motivator” and “leader” are all words that former teammates and coaches have used to describe the impact Neville had on them.

Randy Heisler, who now coaches at Ball State, directed the track and field program while Neville competed for IU. Heisler has coached several elite athletes, but said a kid like David comes along very rarely.

“David Neville is a coach’s dream,” he said.

Heisler remembers going to the cross country course for practice during Neville’s freshman year, the year he was ineligible and could not practice or compete for the Hoosiers.

Neville stood under a tree pounding on a drum with his fellow band members, in the midst of a six-hour practice. After Marching Hundred practice, Neville would then practice at the track.

From the moment Heisler saw this he knew he had a special athlete.
“I knew this kid was dedicated,” he said.

While at IU, Neville earned five All-American honors and came away with four Big Ten championships in the 200 and 400-meter dashes combined. He is also the school record holder in the indoor 200 and 400 and as part of the 4x400-meter relay.

During Neville’s time at IU he had elite teammates including former NCAA champions Sean Jefferson and Aarik Wilson.

IU assistant coach Jake Wiseman, who is second in the record books for the decathlon, remembers traveling with Neville and other high caliber athletes on the team.

Wiseman said he never wanted to be the athlete that did poorly, and Neville helped motivate him.

“He is a great leader,” Wiseman said. “Not a person you want to let down.”

Outside of track and field, Neville is a very religious person and would someday like to be a minister.

Heisler said that even though Neville is an extremely talented athlete, he is a better person.

“David Neville is what every college wants to have as a student athlete,” he said.

For such a great athlete and person his greatest influence does not come from a teammate, parent or coach.

“The most influential person in my life for track has been Jesus because he has taught me what real sacrifice is,” he said.