Ben Lee of ThunderRidge High School has been named Colorado Gatorade Track and Field Player of the Year, not only for his consistency throughout the season, but for his strong finish during championship portion of the season.
Lee started off his season with a couple of wins, running 4:26 at his home meet in the 1600m and 1:55 in the 800m. He then went on to run 9:16 for the 3200m to open up his season in those three events. He then took another stab at the 3200m at Arcadia, where he almost dipped under the 9-minute barrier, running 9:00 on the dot. He also ran the 800m, running a blistering fast time of 1:52.06, which became his new PR in the event. After the first month or so of the season, Lee focused on his specialty events - the 800m and the 1600m.
Lee progressed quite nicely throughout the season, dropping his 1600m time by 10 seconds from his season opener, running 4:16. Throughout the rest of the season, he slowly took off a few seconds with each race and ran 1:52 consistently in the 800m.
Though Lee had an incredibly strong season, it went somewhat unnoticed considering the success of Mountain Vista's Benjamin Anderson and Benjamin Adams. Nevertheless, Lee did not let that deter him going into the state meet. Lee ended up taking the victory in both the 800m and the 1600m, though he was considered the underdog in the 1600m. Lee stayed patient in the 1600m as Anderson took the race out in very hot pace, and with his 800m speed, Lee had the best final lap to take the victory. He ended up running PRs in both races, finishing in 1:51 and 4:09.
Finally, Lee finished up his impressive season at the RunningLane Track Championships, where he placed 8th overall in the 1600m, running a blazing fast time of 4:03 for the race. Though Lee had an incredible season, the most exciting part may be the fact that he is only a Junior, so we will get to see him continue to improve and maybe make a go at the Colorado state record.
