Daniel Lee enters his fourth season as an assistant coach for the East Carolina University Cross Country/Track and Field Men's and Women's teams. Lee is in charge of men's and women's cross country as well as the middle/long distance runners for men's and women's track. Last year was another step forward for the middle/long distance runners at ECU under the direction of Coach Lee. Both the men's and women's cross country squads improved two places at the Conference USA Championship as the men finished in fifth-place, their best showing since the 2004 meet, and the women came in sixth, their highest placement since 2001. Last season, Lee guided Zack Montijo and Brittany Copeland to Second-Team All-Conference USA finishes. The duo became the first Pirate runners to earn All-Conference recognition since 2005. Montijo was also named the Conference USA Freshman-of-the-Year, a first for the ECU cross country program. In Lee's first year as a track coach, he revamped the training program, leading to many record-setting marks. By the end of the first season under Lee, all of the athletes in the middle/ long distance crew achieved career-best performances in at least one event. Lee came to ECU after seven years of coaching in the high school ranks at Wake Forest and Apex in North Carolina. During his time at these schools, Lee helped rewrite the record books. At Wake Forest, 74 of the 80 slots on the all-time top-10 middle/long distance lists are filled by his runners. During his two years at Apex, Lee helped add many names to the Apex all-time top-10 lists, including the men's 800-meter state champion in 2003. Beyond his high school athletes, Lee privately coached many others. The most heralded of these athletes was Sandy Roberts, a two-time qualifier for the Foot Locker Cross Country National Championship. In all, Lee has coached medalists in 15 of the 18 events, and state champions in 11 events, at the North Carolina 4A State Championships. Lee competed for North Carolina State University as a walk-on in 1992, and later earned a scholarship through his hard work and dedication. During his time as a member of the Wolfpack, he was part of the team that captured the 1996 Atlantic Coast Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championship. Lee competed in the open 800-meter run as well as the 4x400-meter relay. Lee's efforts earned him a place in the N.C. State record books with top-10 all-time performances in the open 800-meters (indoor and outdoor), as well as the 4x800-meter and distance medley relays (indoor and outdoor). Lee earned his BS in science education in 1997 and completed his coursework for an MA in exercise physiology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2006. Lee holds USA Track & Field Level I and Level II Coaches Certifications and is a regular speaker at Cross Country and Track & Field camps/clinics. Lee is married to the former Rachel Pascha Shugarman, who is a 1998 graduate of UNC-Greensboro with a BFA in Dance. Before her marriage, she spent six years performing in plays and musicals around the world and on the famous stages of New York City. |
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