Maria Pecha
Biology major
Hometown: San Antonio, TX
Favorite cross country memory/bonding experience?
“The bus rides are always fun but there was this one time when we were driving back from a meet and we were doing this 80’s hits sing-along, that was my favorite.”
What made you decide to choose UD?
“I chose the University of Dallas, and I kind of just liked the balance of still being able to do what I wanted to do with the Core, with my bio classes, and all of my pre-occupational therapy stuff, and still have the freedom to run cross-country. Knowing that I was going to be on the team and actually running and competing was important to me.”
Favorite Cap Bar drink?
“As many shots of espresso as they can give me. The other day I had four shots of espresso, hot and plain, and the girl I ordered it from was like ‘are you okay?’ and I was like ‘I just need this right now.’”
What other sports have you played?
“I did soccer for a long time. The last time I ran cross country was my freshman year of high school and then I just did soccer for all the years after that until college.”
What are your plans for after graduation?
“I’ve got pre-occupational therapy school and grad school, and I’ve got my interview in a couple of weeks. I’m super excited for it!”
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Caleb Clayton
Psychology major
Hometown: Kerrville, TX
Favorite cross country memory/bonding experience?
“I think our first home meet was great because at that point everyone was still like six inches taller than me and so I constantly look at the group picture we have there and I’m just … there’s a massive height difference and it just brings back good memories.”
What other sports have you played?
“I dabbled in high school, I did a season of basketball, a season of baseball, a couple of seasons of soccer but I was always terrible at all of them so I did cross country.”
What motivated you to run at the collegiate level?
“I mean, running in general, is something for me to do that gives me a reason to not think about assignments. And if I can do that as a competition then I might as well.”
Favorite Cap Bar drink?
“As many shots of espresso as I can get. There was this one time during the summer, and I don’t like hot drinks in general because they are just too hot to drink but apparently, everyone at the Cap Bar knew that I liked two shots of espresso with a single ice cube so I can just chug it as soon as possible.”
What are your plans for after graduation?
“I don’t know, I have zero ideas. Of course, my parents both have tons of ideas.”
