El Toro’s Lee Finally Puts His Foot Down

It’s hard to imagine that Danny Lee went anywhere without his running shoes this summer, especially considering his monumental expectations.

“My goal for the summer was to run 1,000 miles,” said Lee, a senior at El Toro. “I went to San Diego and Mexico and I brought along my running shoes.”

After track and field ended last spring, Lee began training for this fall’s cross-country season. During a nine-week period, he ran 70-90 miles a week. Finally, three days before the Woodbridge Invitational, Lee crossed the 1,000-mile mark.

“This is my first year that I’ve trained year-round, and I’m hoping it will pay off,” Lee said.

It has so far. Lee not only won his division at the Laguna Hills and Woodbridge invitationals but also posted the fastest time of the day at both meets. He turned in a 15-minute 3-second performance over three miles at Laguna Hills, then improved to 14:38 the next week at Woodbridge.

“[My times] have far exceeded my goals at both races,” Lee said. “For the most part, I’ve been very surprised. I couldn’t have done it without the tough competition.”

El Toro Coach Rick Hagin expects his No. 1 runner to continue developing and succeeding for the rest of the season.

“I think he’s maturing into a very strong front-runner,” Hagin said. “He’s been progressing slowly over the four years, and I think it’s his time to come forth and take charge and be a front-runner, not only for our team, but in the county.”

Lee may not have had the chance to become one of the county’s best runners if he hadn’t changed his feelings about sports.

His parents wanted him to play sports in high school, primarily to keep him active and out of trouble. So he tried out for the freshman football team. After “Hell Week”--an intensive practice time at the end of summer--Lee decided he’d had enough of football.

“We told him he could quit football, but we told him he had to stay in athletics because it keeps him busy,” said Ann Lee, Danny’s mother.

So Lee turned to cross-country.

“I didn’t run a step until I got into high school,” Lee said. “I didn’t respect sports as a freshman and I didn’t even want to be in a sport. I didn’t plan to continue running cross-country after I finished my first season.”

But after he was nearly dropped from the team for skipping practice, Lee settled down and focused on his training. By season’s end, he decided to stick with the sport, citing the competition, the people he met and his parents.

“Now it’s in his blood and he’s too tired to get into trouble,” Ann Lee said.

Said Danny: “Now that I’m in a sport and work really hard, I can respect other sports and other athletes because I know they work just as hard as I do.”

Lee and his coach no longer have to worry about Lee’s immaturity, but they are concerned about the possibility that he may repeat another pattern.

“I don’t want to peak too early,” Lee said. “Last year, I peaked in the middle of the season.”

Said Hagin: “The goal is to get him to peak at CIF and Nationals, which is mid-November, early December.”

As a junior, Lee was a Times all-county first-team selection. He finished third at the Orange County Championships (15:13) and in the Sea View League finals (15:18); however, he missed qualifying for the state finals after finishing only 13th at the Southern Section Division I finals (14:53).

This season, Lee and the fifth-ranked Chargers again have to worry about their Sea View League opponents because four of the league’s six teams are ranked in the county’s top 10.

“The Sea View League is very tough,” Lee said. “Santa Margarita tore us up. Irvine’s top five are tough; they have an awesome pack.”

Lee won his race on Sept. 24, but fourth-ranked Santa Margarita defeated El Toro, 24-34. Sixth-ranked Irvine will host the Chargers Friday.

“Basically we want to run our best and hopefully our team can come through,” Lee said. “[League meets] are more important than invitationals. I’d like us to win the league title, but it’s going to be extremely tough.”

Though he’d like his team to do well, Lee hasn’t set any individual goals for himself--outside of that 1,000-mile milestone.

“Last year I wanted to run certain times and my season came to a screeching halt at [section finals],” Lee said. “This year, I’m just going to take one race at a time and run my best.”

Said Hagin: “He’s catapulted himself to a higher level where he’ll be tough to beat. It’s just a matter of putting it all together.”