The setting will be different and the stage will be bigger, but that hasn’t fazed Abigail Meckes before.

The Lehighton senior thrived in the biggest moments a year ago, capping a breakout season with a fifth-place medal at the PIAA Track and Field Championships in Shippensburg.

While still eager for the chance to compete for the Tribe one last time this spring, Meckes is excited to chase new opportunities at the University of Virginia, announcing her decision to continue both her track and field and academic careers on Tuesday.

“It was one of my top choices, and then I went on an official visit a few weeks ago and I met the team, and everyone was really nice and welcoming,” Meckes said. “I think that’s what really sold me.”

The Cavaliers probably didn’t need much of a pitch to make Meckes a part of their program.

Meckes earned a fifth-place finish this season in the Class 3A javelin at the PIAA Track and Field Championships as a junior, where she also qualified in the discus.

She made it to Shippensburg in the discus after a runner-up finish at districts, and a third-place result in the javelin, where she hit the state qualifying standard to move on.

After finishing a disappointing 19th in the discus, Meckes - who worked hard with Lehighton throwing coach Gwen Remaley - regrouped for the javelin, uncorking a 129-6 on her last throw to move into medal position.

She was seeded 11th in the discus, and 12th in the javelin at states, which was done in a one-day format last season.

That performance capped a year of tremendous growth for Meckes, who just started the javelin at the beginning of the season.

“After states, that gave me a pretty positive mindset, but I still didn’t know how I ranked against other D1 athletes,” Meckes said. “So I just started sending some emails out, and then they all got back to me and were like, ‘Yeah, you’re exactly what we look for in recruits.’

“So that really got me excited, and it gave me hope that I could go to such a good school like I am.”

Meckes was also interested in Bucknell, Lafayette, Binghamton (New York) and Virginia Tech.

She reached out to Virginia throws coach Martin Maric in August, but he was at the Olympic Games in Tokyo. Though he wasn’t competing this summer, Maric is a two-time Olympian (2008, 2012), representing Croatia. He was named assistant track and field coach in September 2012, and has coached the UVA throwers to 24 All-America honors and three NCAA champions.

“When I went down there for my visit, all the athletes talked about how much improvement they’ve had since they started there, how fantastic of a coach he was, and they’re ranked as some of the best coaches in the country,” said Meckes.

This past season, Meckes, the Times News/Lehigh Valley Health Network Female Track and Field Athlete of the Year, also placed first in the shot put, discus and javelin at the Schuylkill League Championships.

It’s an impressive resume for an athlete whose sophomore spring season was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Meckes, who will study engineering at Virginia, has elected not to participate in basketball this winter to focus on getting ready for the spring.

“I’ve been lifting every day after school, and then three to four times a week, I’ve been trying to go out and throw a little bit,” said Meckes, who is likely to be one of only a few javelin throwers on the Virginia squad.

“But I’m going to try and learn some of the other events that they don’t do in high school, like hammer and weight. So we’ll see how I do with those, and maybe I’ll switch over to those more.”

And she’ll likely find success in whatever she does.