About
In the Spring of 2022 Dana started training with the Emerging Elites club.
As a freshman at Belmont High School, Dana found that her fitness from soccer quickly translated to running when she ran a season of indoor track. Following indoors, Dana started training with the Emerging Elites club to train with faster teammates.
Running in her first outdoor season of high school track, Dana lowered her mile PR to 5:19.34 and placed 7th at the MIAA Division 2 Outdoor Championships. Dana decided to focus on her running and stepped away from her club soccer team. Dana trained with Emerging Elites for the summer between freshman year and sophomore year to improve her fitness for her fall soccer season.
Heading into indoors of sophomore year, Dana decided to focus on her training and race selectively while improving her fitness. She trained and competed for Emerging Elites for the indoor season. Dana made great strides forward in her training and racing, lowering her 800m PR to 2:20.81 and her mile PR to 5:08.01. This set her up to realize even bigger fitness gains outdoors.
For her sophomore outdoor track season, Dana continued training with Emerging Elites and raced for Belmont High School. At the Middlesex League Championships, Dana placed second in the 2 Mile, running 11:05.54, a massive 41 second PR. Setting her sights on the mile, Dana was excited to race it at the MIAA Division 2 Championships, placing first in 5:00.98, tantalizingly close to her first sub-5:00 mile. The following week at the MIAA Meet of Champions, Dana was determined to make the race an honest effort from the gun. Doing the work up front, Dana pushed the pace to ensure a sub-5:00 effort. When the she crossed the line, Dana stopped the clock at a sterling 4:56.81 for her breakthrough first sub-5:00 mile!
Her sophomore spring was a period of massive improvement and she translated her fitness gains into strong racing performances. With consistent training and selective racing, Dana slashed 5 seconds off her 800m PR, running 2:15.56, a solid 12 seconds off her mile PR, running 4:56.81, and a whooping 41 seconds off her 2 mile PR, running 11:05.54. This is a big springboard forward in her fitness and athletic development!
Dana was excited to race at New Balance Nationals Outdoor at UPenn’s Franklin Field in Philadelphia. Racing in the Rising Stars 2 Mile on Friday morning, Dana was eager to lower her 2 Mile PR of 11:05 and break 11-minutes for the first time. When the gun went off, Dana ran quickly to the front and broke from the competitors in a lead pack of three. Passing through the mile mark in 5:20.2, Dana knew the 11 minute benchmark was going to be broken, the second mile would determine by how much. With one lap to go, Dana took off, running a speedy 74.67 to close out her 2 mile in a huge PR of 10:41.59! Way to go Dana!
Remarkably, Dana entered the year with an 11:47 2 Mile PR and has lowered it by 65+ seconds! For her efforts, Dana has earned her qualifying mark for the 3000m at the USATF U20 Championships in Eugene in July. What an incredible accomplishment for the Belmont sophomore!
Dana finished off her NBNO races with a strong 4:57.88 in the Championship Mile, placing 33rd overall.
Dana had the opportunity to travel to Montreal, Canada to race the 800m at La Classique d'athlétisme de Montréal on June 29th. Dana capitalized on the fast race and hung on to the leaders for the first part of the race. She made a bold move with 400m to go and finished 4th in the Open Women’s 800m division in 2:18.12.
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