PA Salute to Seniors: Dan Mink (Pennsbury)

Photo by Howard Anderson

Today, we salute Dan Mink of Pennsbury. Mink finished up a strong career, most notably apart of Pennsbury's great 4x800 meter relay teams. Mink has an open 800 meter PR of 1:59.68 and 16:21 in an XC 5K.

Throughout the end of June and through July we we be honoring our graduating seniors. To submit your own questionnaire to be posted on the front page of PennTrackXC, check out this page and email your responses to Dan Beck (daniel.beck@flosports.tv).

To check out all the Salute To Senior submissions so far, click here!


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What was your most memorable race/competition?
My most memorable race was the 2017 Penn Relays 4x800, where we missed the finals by .2 seconds but ended up running a great race.

Where did you face your biggest competition?
I faced my biggest competition at the Penn Relays. There were so many fast 4x800 teams which made it a very competitive race.

Out of all of your high school accomplishments, which stands out the most?
Going to states for cross country my freshman year with my team was something I will never forget. I don't think I realized how big of a deal it was at the time for Pennsbury, but looking back, it was an amazing experience.

If you could do it all over again, what would you change about your athletic career in high school?

If I could do it all over again, I would've started running the 800 my freshman year, instead of running the 3200.

Photo by Steven Pisano


What were the most difficult obstacles you had to overcome?

Sophomore year, I got injured during cross country and also during track. It was really hard getting back into running after 3-4 weeks of doing nothing. Going home after school and not being with the team was the toughest part.

What will you miss the most?





I'll definitely miss the coaches, and all my teammates the most.

Do you have any advice for younger athletes? 





Enjoy every moment of high school races because soon enough, if you run in college, you will be running 8k's.
How have your coaches influenced your performances and your life goals overall?

Coach Cass really helped me enjoy racing. He knew what races to run me in, so I could get the best results. Four years ago, I would've never thought I would be running in college. My coaches helped me survive the tough times of injury, and helped me grow as a person throughout my 4 years of running. It has been a dream of mine to run for a high competitive college, and my coaches helped me all along the way.

What are your post-high school plans? 

I am going to St. Joseph's University where I will be studying business and running Cross Country and Track.

Shout-Outs?

Coach Cass, Coach Hauser, Coach Demore, my 4x8 team (Eric, Aidan, and Jed) and everyone else on the Cross Country/Track Team