Dani Jones turns on the after burners in the 1600m, burying three other Gatorade runners of the year in the process. Arizona Milesplit Photo.
Dani Jones was selected as Arizona Milesplit athlete of the week for her decisive wins in the 1600m and 800m races against nationally ranked competition at the Chandler Rotary Invitational
VOTE RIGHT HERE SO DANI CAN BE NATIONAL PERFORMER OF THE WEEK AS WELL!!!
After Dani's sophomore season Coach Jeff Messer took over the Desert Vista girl's distance program. He brought with him a whole new training philosophy. Coach Messer indicated he upped the training intensity when he took over. As such, he believes that even though Dani is a senior she is a young distance runner. This would indicate that the best is yet to come for the Thunder harrier. Dani credits Coach Messer with making her believe that she could do great things. Knowing Coach Messer, I doubt he would take any credit for what Dani has achieved. Whatever the case may be it is obvious something has worked. As proof, Dani dispatched several of the nation's best runners this weekend in the 1600m and 800m at the Chandler Rotary.
Like her coach, Dani is about as humble as people come. She has made a name for herself as potentially the greatest lady distance runner in Arizona history. Despite this, she considers it an “absolute honor" to even be considered alongside names like Jess Tonn, Tara Erdmann or Sara Gorton Slattery. The scary part is she may be a better prep than they were. With a 4:44 1600m state record to her name, Dani has her eyes set on the 800m state record. Currently that record is held by Lauren Ellsworth, a runner Dani said she looked up to when they were freshmen.
In additional to being humble Dani is classy, always wishing the best for her opponents. When she heard that Lauren was hurt this season she said she was “really upset." Dani does not want a hollow record. “I don't want to finish with a record people say I got just because Lauren was hurt. She is a fantastic runner," explained Dani, “If I get the record I want to make the impression I deserve it." It would be hard to say she doesn't deserve everything she gets. Dani puts in hard work day in and day out, garnering respect from coaches, teammates and competitors alike.
