Lady Bulldogs star athlete Yaneli Rocha missed her volleyball senior season with a torn meniscus. Doctors told her she wouldn’t be able to make it to track season either. But on the day of her surgery, something unexpected happened.

“They told me I tore my meniscus and when they went in there, I was missing a 4-by-4 chunk of cartilage,” Rocha recalled. “I was going to need a donor but the day of my surgery when they went in it miraculously came back.”

Rocha still required surgery to repair the meniscus, but the cartilage in her knee was somehow intact. That expedited her recovery and put a return for track season on the table.

“We really didn't know if she was going to come out and run. She’s a kid that could've easily said she was going to get ready for her college volleyball season and she said no.” said Coach De La Rosa.

“It was really hard. It had a lot of ups and downs,” Rocha admitted. “A lot of mental blocks were coming back, and I didn’t know if I was going to be able to come back in time. I was really nervous coming into this season when they told me I was able to run. But it’s been so amazing coming back.”

If there were nerves, she hid them well. After surgery in November, she was back to running in February. She didn’t just return, she dominated. From the 400-meter to the 800, she’s been rewriting the McAllen record books.

“The one thing I can say about Yaneli is that she works incredibly hard at everything she does. She’s a very special kid and I don’t know if we’ll get another one like her. I’ve coached for 20 something years and she’s very, very special.”

Even though she took 6th place in the 800-meter at regionals, her team took the gold medal in the 1600-meter relay, advancing to the state meet in Austin.

“It’s really important because I just worked so hard just to get back to this,” Rocha stated. “I just want to look back and see that I did leave it all out on the track, and I don't want to have any regrets in any of my races.”

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