‘If it’s not perfect, he’s not doing it right.’ Attention to detail sets Lakes’ sprinter Simon apart on track and classroom

When Daeshawn Wayne hands the baton off to Lakes High School teammate Dorien Simon for the final leg of any of the team’s relays, a sense of relief comes over him.

“I give it to him and it’s gone,” Wayne said. “No one is as fast as him.”

Simon, a senior for the Lancers, is one of the state’s top returning sprinters. At last year’s Class 3A state track meet, he won the 100-meters, the 200-meters and was a member of the state winning 4x100 relay team, which came in at 41.73 seconds.

While natural ability and genetics certainly play a role, Lakes track coach Willis Freeman said Simon’s attention to detail is what truly sets him apart.

“He’s very smart, listens to instructions and does what you ask him to do,” Freeman said. “As a freshman, he started off at 11.4 (seconds). You could just see that didn’t settle with him. I told him, ‘Let me train you for the next three years and you’ll be a state champion by the time you’re a junior.’”

Like a lot of young track athletes, Simon needed to improve his start, before he could get to that point.

“A lot of times, he used to come out of the blocks high,” Freeman said. “Now, he’s learned how to drive out of the blocks like you see the guys in college and the professionals do.”

Simon has also worked on his strength — doing box jumps, squat jumps and other training in order to get more explosive in his start.

That work ethic and attention to detail has been obvious to his teammates over the years.

“He just works his butt off, every day,” Wayne said. “He’s always the first one here and the last one to leave. He’s making sure everything is perfect. If it’s not perfect, he’s not doing it right.”

Simon is driven to well. He said he not only wants to take first in the 100 and 200 at this year’s state meet, he wants to run record setting times come.

For reference, both the 100 and 200 meter Class 3A records at the state meet are held by Ellensburg’s Ja’Warren Hooker in 1997, who clocked in at 10.35 and 21.24, respectively. Simon’s state times last year were 10.56 and 21.50, putting him within striking distance.

“I just have to get stronger, get in the weight room,” Simon said. “I’m working on my diet and having great nutrition. And just making sure I stay healthy and avoid getting sick.”

Spend any time at all around him, and it’s easy to see he’s a little different than his peers. A 4.0 student, Simon is headed to Stanford University in the fall to continue his academic and track career.

“You can tell just from talking with him — he talks very proper,” Wayne said with a laugh. “He’s just a good kid to be around. He’s smart in the classroom and is just a good person to be around. That’s the person you want in your life.”

Simon, who was also a four-year diver for the Lakes swim team who finished third in state as a junior, plans to study either mathematics with a concentration in finance, or financial engineering. His long term goal is to be a quantitative analyst and do research in the field of business optimization and financial management.

“He’s pure 4.0, all the way through,” Freeman said. “He’s always been that way. I don’t know what his SAT scores were, but I’m sure they were off the charts.”

With an avid interest in STEM education, having the chance to attend Stanford is a dream come true for Simon.

“Being in Silicon Valley is going to be a great opportunity to pursue careers in engineering, mathematics and physics,” Simon said.

And when he took visits to Stanford, he fell in love with the Cardinal community. “They’re just really inviting,” Simon said. “I just felt like I was part of the campus. I just felt comfortable there.”