Allanah Lee, a two-time State Meet qualifier in the triple jump, ranks No. 4 in the U.S. (Damin Esper photo)
By DAMIN ESPER
Allanah Lee started track and field when she was 5 years old. Her father Mike Lee brought her out to the track when he was working with athletes and she just loved it.
She was a jumper, a sprinter, a hurdler. Then, as a sophomore at Castro Valley High School, coach Dooney Jones decided she should be a triple jumper.
How has that worked out? Pretty well.
Lee has made the CIF championships twice in two years of triple jumping. Last year, she finished third. Now a senior, she has her sights set on the State Meet once again.
Lee jumped a season-best 41 feet, 4 inches on Saturday (March 24) at the Trojan Invitational Relays on her home track. Lee's mark ranks No. 2 in CA and No. 4 U.S.
Her's was the best mark at the meet on a cool, windy day with a little rain early on.
"I felt good," she said. "It felt like I'm back on track. It took me a minute to get there. It felt like I warmed up and everything was happening when I wanted it to.
"Every time I jump, (I jump) to get better. Really, I'm just working on my phases so by the time the State Meet comes, I'm performance ready."
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The University of Oklahoma signee is the youngest of six children. Her father was an outstanding hurdler, competing at nearby St. Mary's College Prep-Albany and once holding the school record in the 110 hurdles at Sacramento State.
Jones has known Mike Lee since they were high school athletes. He has worked with Allanah Lee since she was very young. Lee was a hurdler when she got to Castro Valley but Jones saw something.
"One day, I told her, 'You're a triple jumper,' " Jones said.
The results were immediate. Lee won the North Coast Section Meet of Champions as a sophomore with a jump of 40-0.25. She qualified for the finals of the State Meet, but scratched out. In 2017, she finished second at the Meet of Champions and then took third at State. In the CIF prelims, she jumped 41-10.
Lee is working on her third phase this season.
"I'm turning, I'm twisting," she said. "I need to just stay straight. I need to practice making my legs go straight into my chest instead of going sideways into the sand."
She said her goal is 43-4. How will she get there?
"It's my speed down the runway and extending to the back of the bit in the third phase," she said.
Jones said Lee should continue to do multiple events until at least the NCS meets. She should be able to score huge points at the West Alameda County Conference meet, where Jones expects her to do both hurdles and the long and triple jumps.
"I think she has a chance to win both hurdles and both jumps," Jones said. "That's the plan!"
Lee is focussed in on the season.
"Track is the life," she said.
