Edinburg Vela senior sprinter Danya Selber has had a quite nice last couple of days.
On Wednesday, she walked across the stage and received her diploma for graduating from Edinburg Vela High School.
Thursday, surrounded by family, friends, coaches and teammates, Selber signed to continue her athletic and academic career at Trinity University in San Antonio, reaching two milestone moments in her life on consecutive days.
“Your entire life, you look forward to high school graduation. To have that yesterday, then signing today, which I’ve been waiting to do since I was nine or 10 years old, it’s kind of overwhelming to have it all happen in 48 hours, but it was incredible,” Selber said. “I’m so glad with everything going on that we were just able to do it.”
Her signing was originally scheduled for Monday before a couple inches of rain nixed those plans. But Selber didn’t let a little rain stop her shine as she soaked in the moment Thursday with her No. 1 and 2 fans by her side — mom and dad.
Selber thanked her parents, Greg and Kimberly Selber, both professors at UTRGV, for helping her reach her goal of becoming a college athlete. Greg was her first and toughest coach, and still pushes and drags his daughter along for workouts to this day. Kimberly was often like a team mom, volunteering her time and helping out any way she could. One of the biggest ways she helped her daughter was sending motivational memes before track meets or games with Danya’s face Photoshopped onto them.
“They’ve done everything possible and more than a parent can do. My dad, he was a pretty tough coach, by far the toughest that I’ve had, and that includes high school,” Selber said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he drove out three hours and said ‘you want to go lift?’ And my mom, she has done so much for me and my teams. She always volunteers to help out and makes posters for our team, and helps me out personally. Both of them have really just been an incredible support system and I couldn’t ask for better parents.”
Selber spent four years running for the SaberCats as a sprinter. During her career, she competed in the 100-meter, the 200-meter and 400-meter dash, the 4×100-meter relay, the 4×200-meter relay, the sprint medley and high jump and long jump.
Her name is in the Edinburg Vela record books as she holds the top time in SaberCats history in the 100 and as part of the 4×100-meter relay, 4×200-meter relay and sprint medley relay. She’s a multiple time area and regional qualifier and was part of the SaberCats 2017 district championship team.
She was also a lockdown defender for the Vela SaberCats girls soccer team, which recorded an 18-4-2 overall record this season.
Now, she’ll focus on her collegiate career as a sprinter as she joins the Trinity University track and field program. Trinity, located in central San Antonio, participates in the NCAA’s Division III and competes in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference. Selber said she’s ready to challenge herself at the next level.
“I’m ready. I’m a very competitive person as it is, so to be able to go out there and try to win something and PR, that’s my biggest goal. I think in college (the goal) is to see how good I can get personally, hit my best times and break my own records,” Selber said.