Runner phenom Lee Sims has been running since high school. He has been the head coach of the cross country team since 2013. 

“I got into running because of soccer,” Sims said.

Sims ran track in high school, specifically the mile. His fastest time was 4:39. Even though Sims was constantly running, he only ran cross country his senior year at the University of Wisconsin-Superior.

“I played soccer in college and did track and then in my senior year I quit soccer and ran cross country because a lot of my track friends ran cross country in my final year,” Sims said.

Sims’ personal record for 4.95 miles came in his last race and it was 26 minutes and 38 seconds. That is an average of five and half minute miles. Some other impressive running accomplishment done by Sims was running the Grandma’s Half Marathon in 1 hour and 17 minutes. 

Not only has Sims had a successful running career in high school and college, but he is also the coach of the cross country team. 

“Spring of 2012, I was offered a job at SMS,” Sims said. “Dan Conaway was the head coach and asked me to be the assistant coach. He said he was going to retire after that year and I would be the head coach next year.” 

Sims has been the head coach since and has been well liked by his runners for his training and leadership at meets.

“It’s really nice to have a coach run by you even on the hardest workouts,” junior runner Elena Almonte said. “He is a really good motivator at meets. He really helps me when he tells me I can do it.” 

Based on Sims’ running times, his running journey has been successful. He uses his athletic ability to run with his team during practice. This motivates the team to get better and achieve their running milestones.