Allison Lee took up competitive swimming in third grade with the Princeton Tiger Lilies.
As part of the program’s fitness, their dry land workouts had them running on the Princeton University track, up and down the Princeton Stadium stairs, or any of the field areas surrounding DeNunzio Pool. Lee had an epiphany.
“I’d really enjoy the running part way more than I enjoyed the swimming,” said the High School North junior. “So then I started doing cross country in sixth grade and then I just fell in love with the sport from there on.”
Lee was good from the start — she was the top sixth grader at the 2019 New Jersey Middle School XC Championships.
“I think middle school was kind of more like a fall in love with the sport type of time in my life, but obviously if you really love the sport then I guess times sometimes come naturally,” she said. “But I definitely saw that I was better at running than I was at swimming, which is why I kind of leaned more towards it in the end.”
Lee gave up swimming before high school, and she’s gone to another level with her running since then. Five years after her promising middle school debut season, Lee finished third overall at the Meet of Champions on Nov. 16.
“It was definitely a nice ending to the New Jersey cross country season,” Lee said. “I really enjoyed the competition out there and I think that I’ve seen some improvement in my own racing strategy, so I was pretty happy with my race.”
The finish is the highest ever by a North girl, and gives her a good case for being the best distance runner in school history.
“It means a lot because I know that my school has a really long and rich history in running, so it’s definitely special and I feel really honored to be part of that list,” Lee said. “It’s been nice to kind of climb up there with them. And it’s also great to know that I have so much legacy in the school that I’m part of.”
Even more impressive is how much Lee still has left. She was scheduled to compete for the first time in the Foot Locker Cross Country Northeast Regional on Nov. 30 in Boston’s Franklin Park.
The top 10 finishers from the region that includes Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington, D.C., advance to Foot Locker Cross Country National Finals in San Diego, California, on Dec. 14.
“I’m not completely sure what to expect going into the race,” Lee said. “I know it’s going to be a lot of competition, which I’m excited for, but this is my first experience at a regional meet in the high school level, so I just want to go there, kind of have fun, and see where it takes me from then on. I just want to be competitive and respond to the competition.”
Competition has driven Lee to get better and better, and she has responded well at every turn. She opened the sea son with a win in her division at the Thompson Park 2-Miler, won her division at the Shore Coaches Invitational, then clocked a new personal record of 17:28.10 to win the Colonial Valley Conference Divisional XC Championships and won her first sectional crown with a 17:46.20 time at the Central Jersey Group III Championships.
Liliah Gordon, a senior at Northern Burlington Regional High, beat her for the Group 3 state championship, and Union Catholic’s Paige Sheppard and Gordon were the only girls ahead of her at the Meet of Champions when she ran 18:27 for third place.
“Allison is a tough competitor and I know there was a lot of anticipation leading into that race, a lot of talk online and in the running circles as a whole about the battle between Paige and Liliah, but we always knew that Allie belonged in that shuffle, too,” said North girls coach Deanna Altvater. “And I think she gave everything she had. When she finished, she came over with a huge smile on her face, gave a double high five saying like that was awesome. She felt great. She looked great. I think all three of those girls really gave it their all.”
Altvater has been head coach of the girls track and field team, and this was her first year coaching cross country and working directly with Lee and her teammates, who also have the input of longtime coach Brian Gould. Altvater was impressed by what she saw of the emerging star and her desire to improve.
“Allison is a true student of the sport,” she said. “She is constantly seeking feedback from both her coaches and she is always kind of looking into different modalities or professional athletes that she admires.
“Like she’ll look into what do they do for their training, how could she kind of align that to where she’s at developmentally and in her training itself. She loves to ask questions and get information and she actually applies it.”
Lee has shown rapid improvement year after year and hopes to continue to run in college in two years. She didn’t even make the Meet of Champions as a freshman when she came in 28th in the group meet after placing fourth at sectionals and eighth at the Mercer County Championships (the equivalent of this year’s CVC Championship meet). Last year, she won the county meet, took third at sectionals, fifth at groups and 24th at the MOC.
“I think last year I’d been struggling a little bit with like staying healthy like I’ve had some minor injuries here and there,” Lee said. “So it was a little bit more inconsistent with my training, but my coaches are truly so experienced. They have so much so many years in the sport. So all I really have to do is listen to what they tell me to do and stay healthy. And then it just takes me from there.”
Lee has kept an open mind about how much she can improve. She’s tried to be more consistent with her training. The goals have never been very specific for her so that keeps her grounded after making big jumps.
“We don’t really say about places or times and we just believe that if we really stay true to the process and the goals we set in the process, then those times and places will come naturally,” she said. “So in a sense, it’s not as much of a surprise. But at the same time, it definitely is a surprise because I never thought I was truly capable of doing it. But those process oriented goals have been really big.”
So too has the competition. Lee is inspired by those that she races against through the year. She’s happy to win races, but she enjoys being challenged more.
“I’m so grateful for the competition in New Jersey and I think it really gives me an honest race,” she said. “And every time I race with these people, I always find myself pushing myself to a level that I never knew I was capable of. So I’m definitely very grateful for that.”
Even the lead-up to the toughest races is different.
“I think that my mental preparation is a little bit different because I like to visualize my races before I go into it, so I definitely start thinking about what my position can be,” Lee said. “And I think about how I can use tactics to kind of stay with the competition or when I should pull away from it. It definitely toughens me up mentally to some extent. My mental preparation for those kind of races are a little bit more like focused.”
Part of Lee’s growth has centered around sorting out the different strategies that will be most effective for her. The MOC went out fast and Lee slipped into the third and fourth spot early and secured the third spot in going into the final mile of the race.
She is still learning with each race and expanding her experience. Lee has also stepped into a larger role as a leader. Not only did she improve her own times, but she set an example for others that has helped everyone.
“She really took on a leadership role with the team as a whole, and I think that was good for her as well because she knew the girls were looking to her,” Altvater said. “And I think being in that position, she was giving everything, giving her all so that the other girls would see that and do the same. So I think she’s been a really good leader for the team and that has also pushed her to be her best version of herself too.”
Lee isn’t resting on her laurels. She will continue to push herself and her teammates. After cross country ends, she will be gearing up for track and field and the chance to develop her speed before eyeing her final year of high school.
“I can’t see her going anywhere but up from here,” Altvater said. “We are very much trying to keep living in the moment and celebrating the wins as they come because it’s very easy to be like, alright, that was great, but on to the next thing.”
It’s been years since Allison Lee moved on to the next thing when she realized that it was running, and not swimming, in her future. It’s a choice that has given her the opportunity to climb to the top of North distance running as someone capable of competing in the toughest of races.
“I try to stay focused on the training and the process leading up to those kind of races, but I’m definitely excited to see where this running thing will take me.”
West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North cross country runner Allison Lee.,
