James Lee: Silver Creek To The University of Pennsylvania

Silver Creek's James Lee will be headed to the University of Pennsylvania next year.


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                                    Jame Lee's Best Marks

800 - 1:54.21

1,600 - 4:10.66

1,600 (Colorado) - 4:14.61

5k - 15:07

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Q) Talk about the recruitment process - what other schools were you looking at, and how did you come to choosing the University of Pennsylvania? (Did you always want to go to an ivy league school?)
My goal was to go to a school that had both a great track program and great academics. This meant a lot of the ivy league schools were on my radar. I ended up choosing Penn because they had one of the coolest track histories, hosting events like the Penn Relays.
Q) What do you plan to study at Pennsylvania?
I plan to study business at the Wharton School.
Q) You've had success in everything from the 800 on up to the 5k - what do you consider your primary event, and what do you see yourself focusing on at Pennsylvania?
I feel as though my strength is in mid-distance so I plan to focus on those events. Coach Dolan has a lot of experience and I'm looking forward to running for him.
Q) You were 132nd at the cross country state championships your freshmen year, running 19:27, your senior year you were fourth, in 15:58. In track, your records show you opened with a 4:50 mile your freshmen year, last year you went 4:14 (at altitude). Talk about the transformation you've made in high school - what changed over the course of the past three and a half years?
I was originally a soccer player and I was still very serious about it my freshman and sophomore years. This meant that I had to split my time between the two sports and I felt like I wasn't fully excelling at either one. Heading into my Junior year I was really enjoying running with my team and decided that's what I wanted to focus on. This change in focus played a large part in my success that year. 
Q) Could you share any goals you have for the upcoming track season?
My goal this track season is to win races and with that, I hope my times will also see great improvements.
Q) What would your favorite high school moment be?
It would probably be running the 1600 behind Isaac Green at St. Vrain. He really pushed me to run my hardest and it was a lot of fun. I also had a lot of fun running the 4x800 at state with guys I have been running with since middle school. It felt great to have that kind of success with them.