San Diego Prep Review : Dani Passes His First European Race Test

It was a far cry from jogging leisurely around Mount Helix.

For Valhalla High School senior Mark Dani, last Tuesday’s World Junior Cross-Country Championships in Nuechtal, Switzerland was an introduction to the rough terrain, tough conditions and stiff competition of European running.

“I wasn’t too sure how I would do,” Dani said. “I’d always heard about European cross-country, that it was very competitive and very physical. . . . It was European cross-country all right: wet, rainy, muddy and windy.”

Dani ran the slick 7,750-meter course in 24:03 to finish 18th overall and second among the six Americans competing. Dani qualified for Switzerland in February finishing fourth in the Track Athletics Congress National Junior Cross-Country Championships in Waco, Tex. His week in Switzerland was paid for by TAC, which took care of plane fare from San Diego to New York and back, one-night lodging and a per diem; the International Amateur Athletics Federation, which paid for the flight from New York to Switzerland and back plus money for meals and lodging; and the San Diego Track Club, which provided other financial help.

His first sampling of international competition probably won’t be his last. In June, Dani will compete as a distance runner in the TAC Track and Field Championships. He will be vying for a spot on the TAC touring team, whose itinerary includes stops in Canada, Mexico and Greece. Then, there’s always the possibility of a trip to Seoul in 1988 as a member of the U.S. Olympic Team, but Dani isn’t making his reservations just yet.

“That would be nice, but I’m not going to stop running or anything if I don’t make it,” he said. “I’ll only be 20 by then and the people going for the (U.S. Olympic) team will have a lot of experience under their belts.”

Throughout high school, Dani has been juggling track and cross-country with varsity basketball in the winter and soccer in the summer. He believes that workload helped his running.

“Being really active in all sports has helped me out endurance-wise over other people who just run,” he said. “By working all year-round, I’ve always been in shape.”

Dani is considering track scholarships from USC, Cal State Long Beach and the University of Wisconsin. He plans to run cross-country and the 5,000 and 10,000 meters in track in college.

Dani wasn’t the only San Diego area prep athlete to compete on the road last week. Eight members of Swim San Diego traveled to Orlando, Fla. for the Senior National Short Course Championships.

Team members Kirk Stackle and Tami Bruce, who both finished eighth in their best events, competed against as many as 100 high school and collegiate swimmers.

Bruce was eighth in both 200-meter butterfly and the 200-meter freestyle. Stackle finished eighth in the 100-meter breaststroke with a time of 56.5. That time was the best of any San Diego swimmer this year and placed him the nation’s top 25. Stackle, however, said he was disappointed with his performance.

“I didn’t do as well as I expected to,” Stackle said. “I didn’t hit my taper until the very last event.”

Stackle, a senior at Mount Carmel High, is training for the World Championship Trials in June in Orlando. Depending on his times at the meet, Stackle could qualify for either the World Games team, which will tour Europe for a month this summer, or on America’s entry in the Goodwill Games, to be held this summer in Moscow.

“I won’t have any more interruptions in my training, so I hope I’ll do pretty well,” he said.

Other top individual performances at the Senior National Short Course included Hilary Higdon’s 15th place in the 200-meter butterfly and Stackle’s 18th place in the 200-meter breaststroke. The women’s 800-meter freestyle relay team of Bruce, Higdon, Marilyn Peck and Kathy Hall, placed ninth. The men’s 400-meter medley relay team--Stackle, Roger Brisbane, Bill Kazmerowiez and Kip Fulbeck--finished 14th.