By Pat Turner
Contributing Writer

Dana Mecke surprised herself during last year’s cross country season.

In addition to being UTSA’s top finisher in each meet last year, the Smithson Valley junior won the Ricardo Romo/UTSA Classic and finished sixth at the Southland Conference Meet to qualify for NCAA Regionals.

What made her accomplishments so impressive is she carried a full load of classes and also played volleyball at the same time.

The surprises continue to mount for Mecke this season. She’s only participating in cross country this year and the results are much to her liking.

During the first week of the season, Mecke teamed with Kayla Pratt to win the 4x1200 relay at the UTSA opener. She followed that by taking the gold medal during the Texas State Meet by edging Texas’ Larkin Geyer with a 17:30.50.

Now, Mecke looks to defend her gold medal on the home front as she leads the Roadrunners in the Ricardo Romo/UTSA Classic Friday.

“I was really happy with what I did last year,” said Mecke, named Southland Conference Athlete two weeks in a row after her early victories this season. “It amazed me, because I really don’t realize my full potential. I never thought cross country was my strong point, but when I finished sixth at the conference meet I started seeing what I could do. It’s fun running and improving all the time.”

Endurance is definitely one of her strengths. Mecke gave her best example of that ability a year ago while competing in two sports. In addition to practicing both sports daily, it was nothing for her to play volleyball on Friday night, run with the Roadrunners Saturday morning and return later that night for another volleyball match.

She did the same thing at Smithson Valley. Mecke won the Class 5A Region IV cross country crown and a few hours later helped the Rangers reach the Region IV quarterfinals with a win over Corpus Christi Carroll.

At UTSA, Mecke also made major contributions in volleyball well. However, this year she decided to concentrate strictly on cross country.

“It was tough going to practice cross country and then going to volleyball,” Mecke said. “It helped me, because it made me realize I could push through a lot of pain. But I knew I had to make a decision to go with one sport. It was really hard, because I really love volleyball. When I saw that first match it was tough. But this has given me a chance to focus just on one sport.

“I felt I could do better in cross country. I’m able to recover better and not push my body to the limit. I love being out there, because it is always a challenge.”

The quick start is a boost for Mecke, but her plan is to build on the early success. She would like to win a gold medal at this year’s SLC meet and have a better showing in regionals. The ultimate goal, however, is to go to nationals.

“I’m seeing a difference this year since I can concentrate just on running,” Mecke said. “I have to stay healthy. That’s the important thing. I have to stay on top of things and take care of the little things.”

Mecke approaches each meet with the determination to be the best no matter the competition.