A natural athlete, Dana has always loved baseball and started playing at age eight. When she entered high school at Hiram Johnson, she was surprised when she was told that she couldn’t play baseball and was steered towards the softball team. Dana decided to give softball a try and excelled immediately, competing on the varsity team all four years (1984-1988). She played shortstop and catcher and was named to the “Metro League All-Star” Team twice during high school career. Dana led her team to the Metro League Championship in 1987 and this same year she was voted the “Most Outstanding Offensive Player” in the League. Her high school batting average was .400.
After high school, Dana decided to continue her softball career at Cosumnes River College after being recruited by Del Bandy. At CRC, Dana was a two year starter, playing center field and catcher. In her first season (1989), she led the team in stolen bases, batted .467, was named the “Most Improved Player” on the team and was also given the “Coaches Award”. She was named to the 1989 Bay Valley Conference “All-Conference” Softball Team. During her second season (1990) Dana continued to be a team leader. She once again led the team in stolen bases with 8, in doubles with 3, in triples with 6, home runs with 2 and runs batted in with 17. She had the team’s highest slugging percentage at .823 and led the team with a batting average of .444. She helped lead her team to the Northern California Championship Tournament. Dana was selected to the 1990 Bay Valley Conference “All-Conference” Softball Team and was named 1990 “Defensive Player of the Year”. Dana was also honored in 1990 with a seat on the “All-State” Team.
After softball, Dana became interested in tennis and started teaching herself about the game. She read magazines, watched the sport on television, taught herself how to score and how hit the ball. As a result of her hard work, Dana competed on CRC’s Women’s Tennis Team during the spring of 1991. She learned quickly and was CRC’s number one singles and doubles player that year.
Assistant track coach Angie Williams saw something in Dana and asked her to compete in the field event on the CRC track team. Dana worked hard on the weight events and in the spring of 1992, Dana competed on the track and field team for Cosumnes River College. While competing she set a school record in the javelin (127’ 7”), tied the school record in the shot put (43’ 4 ¼”) and ranked second on the CRC “All-Time” marks in the discus (129’ 8”). She qualified for the State Meet where she finished third in the Shot Put and sixth in the Javelin. During her track season at Cosumnes, Dana was ranked number 5 in the nation among community college women shot putters. Due to her accomplishments in track, Dana received a track scholarship to Emporia State College in Emporia Kansas.
At Emporia, Dana’s outstanding track career continued. She qualified for the Indoor NAIA National Track and Field Meet in the Shot Put. She also qualified for the NAIA National Outdoor Track and Field Meet in the Shot Put and Javelin. Unfortunately, Dana’s track career ended sooner than expected when she returned home due to a family illness.
In 2001 when the Independent Women’s Football League was formed, Dana tried out and made the Sacramento Sirens. She played pro football from 2001-2005 as a starting Fullback and Linebacker for the Sirens and helped lead her team to four back to back championships.
Dana currently lives in Sacramento and is a driver for Federal Express. Her future goal is to make independent movies.