Senior Bryce Meck dances to her own beat — well, sometimes it’s Britney Spears’ beat.

“We have little dance parties in our house,” she said. “I have a nice little dance to Britney Spears’ ‘Toxic’ that I like to break out sometimes.”

The field hockey co-captain even incorporates her moves into practices. It’s not unusual for Meck to break out into dance while the team warms up, she said.

“It loosens the mood,” she said. “It gets you more pumped up for the game.”

Meck has lived with fellow senior field hockey players Melanie McKaney, Sarah Magliochetti, Andrea Baraiola and Tina Capozzi for the past three years.

Meck and McKaney, the team’s other co-captain, study physical therapy, a demanding major to handle while playing a varsity sport. However, they still keep things fun while pulling an all-night study session after a long day of classes and practice. McKaney said she and Meck like to mix it up while cramming for class.

“We would be in the middle of studying, and we would stop and coordinate the songs on our computers to play at the same time,” McKaney said. “And we would do dances on our chairs.”

When she’s not strutting her stuff to pop music with her roommates, Meck dances around opposing defenders on the field. In her collegiate career, she has notched 14 goals and nine assists. She has started every game since joining the squad in 2003.

As a sophomore in 2004, Meck came up big in the New York state title match with a three-point performance, which helped the Bombers beat SUNY-Brockport in overtime. Last season, she was named to the all-conference team after finishing second on the Bombers in points.

This season, she leads the team in goals with four, which she scored in only two games. The most recent two came Tuesday against No. 9 William Smith College in the Bombers’ 5–3 away loss. She also assisted on Ithaca’s final goal.

Meck has a fierce and gritty playing style, and she’s not afraid to dive for balls if it will benefit her squad. On free hits and corners, Meck is always the go-to girl. Her hard liners from just inside the arc are deadly to the opposition, as Washington and Jefferson College’s goaltender found out twice Sept. 24.

The team’s most consistent goal scorer’s career started out humbly in the third grade. She only played a couple times a year and didn’t take it too seriously. It wasn’t until the sixth grade when Meck realized her love for the game. In her sophomore year of high school, she already had dreams of playing at the collegiate level. She considered a variety of Division- II and Division-III schools before falling in love with Ithaca College. The strong reputation of the physical therapy program was the deciding factor.

Before moving to South Hill, Meck lived in Mechanicsburg, Pa., 30 minutes from the Maryland border. During one winter break, Long Island natives McKaney and Capozzi traveled to Pennsylvania to visit Meck. Naturally, they experienced some culture shock while visiting her rural hometown. Meck showed her teammates things they couldn’t find in Long Island, McKaney said.

“She showed us all of the great things of her Pennsylvania life, such as butter sculptures and pigs bigger than I could ever imagine,” McKaney said.

When she’s not showing friends around the county fair, Meck takes her spicy personality into the kitchen.

“I love salsa and Frank’s Red Hot sauce,” she said. “I put them on everything.”

During the team vacation to Barbados her sophomore year, Meck spotted a specialty item, Barbados lemon pepper hot sauce. Not surprisingly, she purchased three bottles.

Meck’s on-field attitude is as heated as her choice of sauces. Sophomore forward Elyse Green has responded well to Meck’s enthusiasm.

“She’s always cheering for everyone and saying that we did well,” Green said.

Her underclassmen teammates have paid attention to Meck’s hard work and tenacity. She has taken the phrase “lead by example” to a whole new level, said sophomore forward Courtney Clark.

“She’s always laying it out on the field,” Clark said. “That motivates others to want to lay it out, too.”

To the team, Meck lends talent and enthusiasm. To McKaney, she’s a friend, first and foremost.

“I am just so happy to have met Bryce,” McKaney said. “Not only is Bryce a great teammate, she is also a great roommate and classmate.”

If Meck motivates her teammates, then what motivates her? She said it’s the bond from her best friends on the team. When things get tough, her friends and teammates push her to go further.

In November, Meck will hang up her Blue and Gold jersey. She said she is excited to enjoy her first semester without grueling practices and tiring games.

She intends to receive her master’s degree through Ithaca College’s Rochester program, then going for her doctorate, all within the next two-and-a-half years. And, of course, there will be some pick-up field hockey games along the way.

When Meck leaves Ithaca in the spring, her teammates will remember her as a looked-for motivator, go-to goal scorer, and, of course, someone who’s not afraid to bust a move.