CANYON, Texas – West Texas A&M women's track & field All-American Nele Heinrich has been named the inaugural recipient of the Jo Meaker Memorial Scholarship. The scholarship established in 2020 benefits a women's track & field/cross country student-athlete at WT.
 
Heinrich, a senior from Guben, Germany, has been an integral part of one of the nation's premier track & field programs since stepping onto campus in the fall of 2016. She has earned All-American honors three times including twice during the 2018 indoor championships where the Lady Buffs were crowned national champions. 
 
During the 2020 indoor season that was canceled due to the CoViD-19 pandemic, Heinrich earned First Team All-Lone Star Conference honors after finishing second in the 400 and 800-meters to help the Lady Buffs win their seventh straight team title. She also earned all-academic honors for her work on and off the track.
 
Meaker grew up in Panhandle, Texas where she represented Panhandle High School in the girls' state track meets in 1966, 1967, and 1968, helping her team win state twice. 
 
From 1969 through 1972, she was one of the young ladies who competed on the women's college track team at WT simply for the love of the sport when WTSU was starting its women's athletic program. Meaker strongly encouraged Mary Hill to coach the first women's track program at WT. She was inducted into the Hall of Champions in 1992 for her performance at the national level for Wt. 
 
Upon completing college, Meaker began her 38-year career as a science teacher and girl's track coach at Tascosa High School in Amarillo. She was well known and loved by her students and athletes and was named the Panhandle Sports Hall of Fame Track & Field Coach of the Year in 1981. 
 
Contribute to the scholarship endowment HERE.