“WHAT MAKES EMILY RUN
Decorated athlete motivated by family history”</p>
<p>Given all of her titles and records, you might expect Emily Reese to be powered by a computer chip. Or maybe batteries.</p>
<p>Truth to tell, the Chamblee senior does not grow wings at the start of her races, nor do tiny wheels pop out of her running shoes. She is not a robot.</p>
<p>She has a boyfriend. She likes getting her hair, nails and toes done. She goes to proms. She is a future Harvard graduate. She likes Disney coloring books. She is the daughter of a lung cancer survivor and the granddaughter of a lung cancer victim.</p>
<p>All of these traits play a role in making her who she is: possibly the most dominant female distance runner in Georgia history.</p>
<p>This weekend, Reese will attempt to win her 23rd and 24th state championships when she competes in the 1,600 and the 3,200 meters in Albany.</p>
<p>But that does not define who she is.</p>
<p>“What impresses me the most about her is how she’s able to get everything done,” said her boyfriend, fellow Chamblee senior Lucas Henneman. “She makes excellent grades. She has a social life, and she trains like crazy.”</p>
<p>Like Reese, Henneman was captain of the cross-country team this season, which was cut short for him when it was discovered he’d been running with a stress fracture in his foot. He was a member of the swim team and is a top pitcher on the Bulldogs’ baseball team, which is in the hunt for a berth in the state playoffs.</p>
<p>So Henneman knows a little about managing time and competing. In fact, he had to compete to become Reese’s beau. His main competition was Reese herself, who was hesitant about entering into a relationship with Henneman. They began dating this year.</p>
<p>“We’ve known each other since fourth grade, and we’ve been really good friends since eighth grade,” Reese said. “He’s such a good friend that I was afraid that if things didn’t work out between us, we wouldn’t be friends anymore. But he convinced me.”</p>
<p>“I had other girlfriends, but I always thought it was possible,” Henneman said of dating Reese. “To me, it was like, it’s our senior year. It’s now or never. Our relationship is pretty strong. It’s great.”</p>
<p>Though he has known her for years, Henneman, who will attend Johns Hopkins in the fall, said he’s amazed by Reese’s focus and dedication.</p>
<p>“Her ability to manage her time is more impressive to me than all of her titles and records,” Henneman said. “She’s so focused.”</p>
<p>Reese’s mother, Judene Reese, agrees.</p>
<p>“She has always had the ability to do whatever it takes to get the job done, and she always wants to be the best,” Judene said. “She makes sure she eats right. She trains like no one else, and she applies that same drive to her studies. When she sets a goal, she stays on that mission until she accomplishes that goal.”</p>
<p>One of Reese’s long-term goals is to be both a cancer researcher and cancer physician. The goals derive from personal experience. Reese’s maternal grandfather, Larry Diggins, passed away from lung cancer when Emily was in elementary school.</p>
<p>“It happened so fast,” she said. “He was diagnosed so late. One time I saw him, and he was fine. Just a little cough like he had a cold or something. The next time I saw him he was really, really sick. It scared me.”</p>
<p>Diggins was a big-time runner himself in high school in Iowa. Reese said she didn’t know much about his career until after he passed away.</p>
<p>“I definitely feel an even more special connection with him now that I know how good he was,” Reese said. “I know where my ability comes from now.”</p>
<p>**When Reese was a freshman, her father, Howard Reese, was diagnosed with lung cancer. All of the horrible thoughts came rushing back, Reese said. But her father was diagnosed much earlier than her grandfather had been.</p>
<p>“He went through chemo and his treatments, and everything is fine now,” Reese said. “But it was very scary.”**</p>
<p>Reese said running helped her make it through. It was her sanctuary, keeping her mind off bad thoughts.</p>
<p>“I want to be an oncologist because I saw what a great influence my dad’s doctor had on him,” Reese said. “And I want to do research, because I want to be one of the doctors that finds a cure. I want to do both.”</p>
<p>This fall, Reese will begin her path toward becoming a doctor at one of the best places in the world to do it - Harvard. She chose Harvard over Duke, even though Duke has the more established cross-country and track programs.</p>
<p>“My sister and my boyfriend know me better than anyone else,” Reese said. “Both of them made me realize that I would be happy at Harvard, even if I wasn’t running. I felt very comfortable when I went for my visit.”</p>
<p>But before she begins conquering new challenges, Reese plans to close out her high school career in style.</p>
<p>“It’s all gone by so fast,” Reese said. “It seems like just yesterday that I was running at state for the first time. I have mixed emotions. I’m excited about moving on. But high school has been a great experience. I’m definitely going to miss it.”