Virginia Coindreau, hired in July 2008, begins her third season as women's cross country/distance coach this fall.
Coindreau has made an immediate impact with the team's distance runners, as she was instrumental in the Roadrunners women producing a five-place improvement at the 2010 Southland Outdoor Championships. Dana Mecke was named the league’s Athlete of the Year after winning the 800m and 1,500m titles and her middle distance sweep was the first in the conference in seven years. She went on to compete at the NCAA Championships Preliminary Rounds (800m) and was tabbed a third-team ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic-American.
Meanwhile, UTSA posted its highest indoor finish, third, in a half dozen years in February 2010 on the strength of a school-record-tying six individual/relay crowns, five of which came from the distance crew. Mecke swept the 800m and mile for the second straight year, Pernilla Savestrand and Kayla Pratt were victorious in the 3k and 5k, respectively, and the distance medley relay team collected a gold medal for the second year in a row. Meanwhile, Savestrand was tabbed the circuit’s Newcomer of the Year after earning the same award during the cross country campaign.
Last fall, she led the women's cross country squad to a fourth-place finish, giving the program its best finishsince 2004. Pratt finished second, Mecke— the defending champion — placed fifth and Savestrand — the Southland Newcomer of the Year —crossed the tape in seventh place. Coindreau also helped lead the men to their best performance, third, in 12 seasons. Layne Nixon led the way, ashe earned all-conference honors with his seventh-place effort.Mecke and Nixon went on to pick upAll-South Central Region accolades to close out the campaign.
Mecke became the fourth female in school history and first in a dozenyears to win the Southland Cross Country Championship in 2008. The junior wonher first seven races of the season before finishing the campaign witha 23rd-place showing at the NCAA South Central Regional, which was thehighest finish by a Roadrunner in at least 12 years. The league’sStudent-Athlete of the Year also was a five-time Southland Athlete ofthe Week honoree. She went on to win Southland Indoor Championships inthe 800 meters and milein addition to running the anchor leg on UTSA's first-place distancemedley relay squad and was tabbed the meet's Outstanding TrackPerformer and circuit's Student-Athlete of the Year. Meanwhile, Pratt raced to All-America honors in the 5,000mat June's USA Junior Championships.
On the men's side, Michael Cook won the league's 1,500 meters title, becoming the first Roadrunner in eight years and fifth in program history to accomplish the feat, and he qualified for the NCAA Midwest Regional.
The Georgetown native came to the Alamo City after coaching the previous two seasons at Adams State College in Alamosa, Colo. She served as a volunteer coach in 2006-07 and as a graduate assistant one year later, working with the cross country and distance contingent.
Coindreau was a four-year letterwinner from 2001-05 in both cross country and track & field at at Adams State. She was a member of the Grizzlies’ 2005 NCAA Division II Champion distance medley relay squad and a nine-time All-American. Coindreau also helped lead the cross country team to back-to-back National Championships in 2003-04.
She graduated from Adams State in 2005 with a bachelor’s degree in both biology and psychology.
Coindreau has made an immediate impact with the team's distance runners, as she was instrumental in the Roadrunners women producing a five-place improvement at the 2010 Southland Outdoor Championships. Dana Mecke was named the league’s Athlete of the Year after winning the 800m and 1,500m titles and her middle distance sweep was the first in the conference in seven years. She went on to compete at the NCAA Championships Preliminary Rounds (800m) and was tabbed a third-team ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic-American.
Meanwhile, UTSA posted its highest indoor finish, third, in a half dozen years in February 2010 on the strength of a school-record-tying six individual/relay crowns, five of which came from the distance crew. Mecke swept the 800m and mile for the second straight year, Pernilla Savestrand and Kayla Pratt were victorious in the 3k and 5k, respectively, and the distance medley relay team collected a gold medal for the second year in a row. Meanwhile, Savestrand was tabbed the circuit’s Newcomer of the Year after earning the same award during the cross country campaign.
Last fall, she led the women's cross country squad to a fourth-place finish, giving the program its best finishsince 2004. Pratt finished second, Mecke— the defending champion — placed fifth and Savestrand — the Southland Newcomer of the Year —crossed the tape in seventh place. Coindreau also helped lead the men to their best performance, third, in 12 seasons. Layne Nixon led the way, ashe earned all-conference honors with his seventh-place effort.Mecke and Nixon went on to pick upAll-South Central Region accolades to close out the campaign.
Mecke became the fourth female in school history and first in a dozenyears to win the Southland Cross Country Championship in 2008. The junior wonher first seven races of the season before finishing the campaign witha 23rd-place showing at the NCAA South Central Regional, which was thehighest finish by a Roadrunner in at least 12 years. The league’sStudent-Athlete of the Year also was a five-time Southland Athlete ofthe Week honoree. She went on to win Southland Indoor Championships inthe 800 meters and milein addition to running the anchor leg on UTSA's first-place distancemedley relay squad and was tabbed the meet's Outstanding TrackPerformer and circuit's Student-Athlete of the Year. Meanwhile, Pratt raced to All-America honors in the 5,000mat June's USA Junior Championships.
On the men's side, Michael Cook won the league's 1,500 meters title, becoming the first Roadrunner in eight years and fifth in program history to accomplish the feat, and he qualified for the NCAA Midwest Regional.
The Georgetown native came to the Alamo City after coaching the previous two seasons at Adams State College in Alamosa, Colo. She served as a volunteer coach in 2006-07 and as a graduate assistant one year later, working with the cross country and distance contingent.
Coindreau was a four-year letterwinner from 2001-05 in both cross country and track & field at at Adams State. She was a member of the Grizzlies’ 2005 NCAA Division II Champion distance medley relay squad and a nine-time All-American. Coindreau also helped lead the cross country team to back-to-back National Championships in 2003-04.
She graduated from Adams State in 2005 with a bachelor’s degree in both biology and psychology.