NPHS student-athlete wraps up banner year by competing at Junior Olympics

BILL SPARKES/Acorn NewspaperLEAPS AND BOUNDS—Newbury Park high jumper and hurdler Amanda Lee recently returned home after competing in the Junior Olympics for the second-straight year. The 15-year-old had a breakout season this past year, winning Marmonte League titles in both high jump and the 300 meter hurdles. She has raised her goals even higher for next season. In a single track meet last season, Newbury Park High jumper/hurdler Amanda Lee, then a sophomore, set personal bests on two consecutive jumps—finishing in first place with a leap of 5-4, though she had never even cleared 5-2 prior to that meet.

“It was just a weird day,” Lee said, “you just don’t expect something like that to happen. After that, I started to win consistently. I won every league meet in the high jump.”

Bursting on the scene last season as one of the Panthers most consistent medalers, the 15-year-old was Marmonte League champion in both the high jump and the 300 meter hurdles, qualifying for CIF in both events, and nearly missing a chance at the Master’s meet.

Her accomplishments on the Panther girls’ track team were only overshadowed by that of her teammate and best friend, Chelsea Davis. Davis was Marmonte League champion in the 400 and runner-up in the 200 as a sophomore.

“It was really a great season for me. It was better than I could have expected,” said Lee, who grew up in Newbury Park. “And it wasn’t just that I did so well, it was that I had so much fun doing it. That’s what I didn’t expect. I just thought it would be a bunch of work, but it wasn’t.”

Just this past week, Lee traveled to Indianapolis with her mother, Priscilla, to compete for high jump glory in the annual track and field gala, the Junior Olympics.

Though she was unable to clear 5-3 and missed out on a medal, Lee said it was another valuable learning experience.

“My jumps at 5-3 were really good, I just kept coming down and hitting (the bar) with my heels. It was a bummer,” Lee said. “But this year it was a lot more fun than last year, and it was a lot more competitive. It really forced me to push myself, and that’s only going to help me for next season.”

Lee will now take the rest of ‘05 off from jumping to concentrate on school and her new spot on the Newbury Park cross country team. Though a jumper and sprinter by nature (she also races on the Panther’s 4x100 relay team), Lee said her coach thought it would be in her best interest to use the season of distance running to become an allaround better athlete.

“Even though I did well at track meets, I was never in great running shape. I was strong, but I didn’t have the endurance I needed to make it through hurdles and have enough left for the relay,” Lee said. “So my coach suggested I go out for cross country and I agreed. All my friends do it, so it will be fun. Plus, they said they’d take it easy on me because they know I’m a sprinter.”

If Lee has a hurdle to climb in ’06 it’s becoming a more consistent jumper. Though she’s shined at times and is able to win locally, the junior said she wants to excel at higher levels of competition.

She came up short of her expectations at both the Ventura County Championships and at CIF-Southern Section finals last year.

“I want to make it to the state meet next year,” said Lee, who has yet to clear 5-5 in a sanctioned meet, but has done so in practice. “Technically, I could have made it last year, but I just didn’t have a good day. I need to become a lot more consistent. I can’t freak out when the bar goes up. . . . You just have to find what works for you and then do it every single time. It’s about doing it perfect and then repeating it. It’s about repetition.”

A gifted student as well as an athlete, like many, Lee hopes her track and field exploits will eventually earn her a spot on a successful college program. She has her sights set on either UCLA or UC San Diego.

“I just have so much fun at (track), I would love to keep doing it,” Lee said.

More recently, the tall blonde has taken up a new hobby— heptathlons—a sport where competitors face off in eight different events, including the 100, 800, 100 meter hurdles, high jump, long jump, shot put and javelin.

In her first ever try at this new undertaking, Lee took fifth out of eight with 3,212 points. To qualify for Junior Olympics requires 3,800 points.

Already Lee is saying this might be her best chance for a future spot on a U.S. Olympic team.

“It suits me well because I can do a lot of different events,” Lee said. “Someone even said I have a good arm for throwing— even though I didn’t really show it at the first event.”

While we’ll have to stay tuned for her progress in heptathlons, Panther fans can expect to see Lee back atop the leaderboards next track season, where she’ll return a year older, and a year wiser.

“It was a great year for me, but I feel I’m only getting better—I’m maturing,” Lee said. “Now when I go up to jump, I just jump. I don’t think about it. I’m comfortable out there.”