The official site of the Torch, the student-run newspaper at Glenbrook North High School.

Torch

The official site of the Torch, the student-run newspaper at Glenbrook North High School.

Torch

The official site of the Torch, the student-run newspaper at Glenbrook North High School.

Torch

Daughter runs after father’s legacy

Junior Dana Lee practices long distance running for outdoor track on May 1. Lee was preparing for the New Trier Relays that took place on Saturday May 3. Lee has been training all season for State which begins May 22. Photo by Gabe Weininger.
Junior Dana Lee practices long distance running for outdoor track on May 1. Lee was preparing for the New Trier Relays that took place on Saturday May 3. Lee has been training all season for State which begins May 22. Photo by Gabe Weininger.

Before each race, Mike Lee studies the course maps for his daughter, junior Dana Lee’s, cross country and track meets. That way, he can cross between strategic points during the race and cheer her on.

“Kids don’t need support and encouragement at the beginning and at the end [of a race],” said Mike Lee. “I think where it matters most, where a lot of races are won and lost, are in the middle of a race.”

Dana is the daughter of a former high school cross country and track runner and has been running since a very young age. Dana first observed the sport when her father took her to meets at Niles West where he ran.

“Every year for about the first 10 years of Dana’s life I would bring her to the Niles West Sectional cross country meet, because York was running there,” Mike Lee said.

York is a top performing cross country team, with 28 state championships to its credit.

“…When [Dana] got into high school, it was a weird feeling seeing her run in that same meet that she used to watch when she was in a stroller,” said Mike Lee. “[She was] also running on my own home course [and] that’s a bizarre feeling.”

Dana is involved both on and off the track. She is a member of the Academy, while also competing in the 800 meter event for the track team.

“She’s very committed to the [track] team and a hard worker [with a] good work ethic,” said teammate Josey Hill. “She [had] to run a 4×800 meter and another 800 meter later in [a recent] meet. She ran the same exact [time for each lap] in both races, which is pretty impressive.”

Dana has been on the varsity track team since her freshman year. She also used to play softball, but gave it up to focus on running. Her father is not only a former runner, but coached varsity high school baseball and was Dana’s softball coach when she played.

“He coached 18-year-old boys and when I started playing softball he went from 18-year-old boys to 10-year-old girls,” said Dana. “He switched from baseball to softball so he could coach [me and my siblings].”

Mike Lee admired his daughter’s determination and her great work ethic on the softball field, the same kind of dedication that has paid off in cross country.

“[Dana] was playing center field and she was chasing after a ball that was hit in the gap,” Mike Lee said. “Somehow she fell reaching for the ball and it looked like she tore an ACL or something. I mean she went down. I thought she blew [her knee] out. She got up, and I’m looking at her and motioned to see if she wanted to come in or stay out there. She stomped her foot down and she’s like, ‘I’m staying here.’”

Dana does not play on a softball team anymore. She is concentrating her athletic efforts on the cross country and track teams. However, whether it is a sectional meet or a family run, Dana says she tries her hardest.

“I don’t think she’s the kind of athlete who wants to look back and [say,] ‘Boy, I wish I would have worked harder at that,’” said Mike Lee. “I think when [her running career] is all said and done she’s going to look back on it without any regrets.”