Defensive back for the Queen’s Men’s Football team, student-athlete Ashton Miller-Melancon, ArtSci ’25, was recently named as one of the Top 8 Academic All-Canadians for the 2022-23 season.
To achieve Academic All-Canadian status, Canadian student-athletes must retain an average of at least 80 per cent or higher and play on at least one varsity sports team.
Born in Dorval, Quebec, Miller-Melancon posted a perfect 4.3 GPA this past year, setting him apart from the 4,900 student-athletes across the country who qualified for Academic All-Canadian status.
“As student-athlete, I’m putting in hours each day on and off the field to perfect my craft, and perform as well as I can on the weekend, but I’m putting in hours each day in the classroom, in the library, studying at home, so I can get the highest marks possible. It’s a culmination of a lot of hard work on and off the field,” Miller Melancon said in an interview with The Journal.
Miller-Melancon finished his third season with the Golden Gaels with three interceptions, putting him third in Canada. With 11 career interceptions for 165 total yards, Ashton sits at eighth of all-time out of all Queen’s athletes.
“Another thing is the confidence that you get, when I’d get a good mark, in my academics, I have a certain level of confidence, and when I have practice at night, you’re feeling more confident in yourself because you’ve just achieved something great,” he said. “Now you’re gonna go out there and you have the confidence to achieve something else.”
This isn’t Miller-Melancon’s first time being recognized for such an achievement. He’s already earned Academic All-Canadian recognition and was a part of the All-Rookie Team. He earned his first U SPORTS First Team All-Canadian status the following season.
While it may seem far-fetched that an all-star defensive back could also achieve a perfect 4.3 GPA, Miller-Melancon sees a correlation between his successes.
“To be a great student, you need to have discipline and hold yourself able, and those skills translate really well to the football field, especially at defensive back, you need to have discipline, disciplined eyes, disciplined feet, disciplined mind, and you need to hold yourself to a high standard so that you can perform the best way possible,” he said.
Miller-Melancon credited both his parents for instilling in him a strong work ethic, and the Queen’s athletics and academics staff for fostering his growth as a student-athlete.
“Even before I started playing football, [my parents] were always big on excelling in academics. They preach that the better you do, the more doors will be opened in the future,” he said. “When I started playing football, they told me, ‘If you’re going to do this, go all in, commit to it, and try to be the best at it,’ so I’ve taken those mindsets and carried them over.”
After expressing his gratitude to the teachers, advisors, coaches, and TAs that helped foster his growth, Miller-Melancon reflected on how exactly he manages such high expectations for himself.
“At night, I’ll make a checklist of assignments, homework, really anything I want to get done the next day,” he said. “That just keeps me on a strict schedule, keeps me disciplined, knowing that I’ve set expectations for myself, for what needs to get done, and it helps me stay the course.”
Don’t expect Miller-Melancon’s future career path to be linear; he has his eyes set on a variety of prominent goals, none of which are out of reach for the Quebec native.
With one year left at Queen’s before he’s eligible for the CFL draft—his main goal—Miller-Melancon plans to keep training, maintain his work ethic, and excel in the 2024-25 season.
Miller-Melancon plans to remain in the sports world, and he believes his health studies degree and employment relations minor will help. He even mentioned law school as a potential route post-football.
Miller-Melancon earned his recognition through years of hard work and dedication. With a level head on his shoulders, it will be exciting to see what he brings to Gaels football next season, and what he accomplishes through the rest of his career as a student-athlete.
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