Zani Meaders came to finish her track career at UTEP after spending four undergraduate years at UC Irvine, near her Southern California home.
She earned three medals at the Conference USA Championships this past weekend — gold in the 1,600-meter relay, silver in the 400 relay and a bronze in her individual event, the 400.
Two years ago, at the age of 20, she found out she had a previously undiagnosed hearing order, which included hearing sounds at a delay (bad for starts in track) and distorted. It was fixed with hearing aids.
She'll be headed with her teammates to next weekend's first two rounds of the NCAAs at Sacramento, hoping to earn a spot in the two relays for the final rounds in Austin next month.