| Sophomore Dana Mecke has been competing for both the Roadrunners' cross country and volleyball teams this fall. | |
SAN ANTONIO ? Multi-sport athletes are not uncommon in college these days, but what makes Dana Mecke an exception is she is competing in two of her three sports ? cross country and volleyball ? simultaneously this fall (she also competes for the track & field team in the spring).
One would think that would be too much of a workload to handle, especially when 13 hours of class work are factored into the equation, but Mecke not only has shown it can be done, but she also has been very successful at the same time.
It has been a very busy two months for the sophomore from Bulverde, as she has played in all 18 of the Roadrunners’ volleyball matches while running in a pair of cross country meets.
Last week saw Mecke play in UTSA’s conference opener at Texas State on Thursday night, followed by a first-place performance on Friday night at the Ricardo Romo/Six Flags Fiesta Texas Classic. However, she didn’t have too much time to relish her first collegiate victory, as she was promptly taken to San Antonio International Airport for a 9 p.m. flight to Love Field in Dallas so she could join her volleyball teammates for Saturday’s afternoon match at Texas-Arlington.
How did she do it? Mecke said the key was focus and the power of positive thinking.
“It was definitely a tough week and I just tried to stay focused on one thing at a time,” she said on Monday. “I didn’t feel all that well at the beginning of the week, so the biggest challenge was staying positive and telling myself I could make it through it. It definitely helped that I was able to do the same thing a couple weeks ago.”
If you can believe it, things were much more hectic two weeks ago when Mecke played in back-to-back night matches against Houston and Auburn on Sept. 6-7 before heading up to San Marcos on the morning of Sept. 8 for the Texas State Invitational. Following her sixth-place performance, it was back to San Antonio, as she helped her volleyball teammates split a pair of matches against Louisiana Tech (noon) and Texas A&M (7 p.m.) later in the day.
“That weekend really helped prepare me because I knew it couldn’t get much tougher than that,” Mecke said. “I was amazed how I was able to push through the pain and it showed me it could be done. Playing matches in back-to-back nights and then having to run early was a real challenge, but I knew if I could make it through that weekend, I could pull anything off later down the road.”
A typical day for Mecke consists of an early wake-up call, followed by a 7 a.m. cross country workout. Two hours later, she is off to the Convocation Center for volleyball practice, which normally lasts up to three hours. Lunch and rest follows before she is off to class in the late afternoon. Her evenings are reserved for studying when she isn’t competing.
Mecke came to UTSA a year ago as a highly-decorated recruit. She was the 2005 San Antonio Express-News Cross Country Runner of the Year and also earned all-state honors in volleyball. However, she elected to compete in cross country and track & field in her first year as a Roadrunner.
Last summer, Mecke began thinking about playing volleyball again and approached head coach Laura Neugebauer-Groff about the possibility of joining her squad. Mecke's only reservation was if she’d be able to compete at a high level after taking a year off. After consideration, Neugebauer-Groff gave her the opportunity to become UTSA's first multi-sport star since Stephanie Swords four years ago (women's basketball and track & field).
“Coach Groff has been great,” Mecke said. “She expects a lot out of me and that has really helped me out, especially after being away from the game for a year. I still have a long ways to go, but I am becoming a better player each time I step on the court.”
With another month to go in both sports, she is looking forward to finishing both seasons on a successful note.