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Former Gator is hitting his stride

Lee Stephens' competitive nature keeps him going and winning after successful years in high school and college.

By LARRY BUGG
Published June 14, 2005

You can't miss him in a race.

He has the long, wild hair and often finishes a race breathing easily. Oh, and he usually is the first to cross the finish line.

Lee Stephens, 24, earned $3,000 in competitions last year. He won the Central Florida Road Warriors Series, the Track Shack Series in Orlando and the Race Place Magazine series. He picked up $1,000 for the Road Warrior and Track Shack and $1,000 total from other races. He was third in the Tampa Gasparilla 15K.

A star in high school and college, Stephens said he is running better than ever.

A 1998 Land O'Lakes graduate, Stephens won Pasco County, Sunshine Athletic Conference and district titles in his junior and senior years. He placed 26th at state his junior year and eighth his senior year in cross country.

He ran for two years at the University of South Florida and two years at Florida Southern, where hes was the No.1 runner. His junior year, he was three seconds from qualifying for the NCAA Division II nationals.

"The competition keeps me going," Stephens said. "I wouldn't say I enjoy training. I have always thrived on competition. I live for the races. I am always trying to get faster."

He ran 27:24 in May's Whispering Pines 5-Miler and Stephens thought he conquered a tough course that day.

"I have run faster on other courses, but that course is really sandy and hilly with a lot of turns," he said. "It is like 85 degrees all the time now."

He missed the first race of the Central Florida Road Warrior Series but has won every race since and can take a points lead in the 11th race. He will compete in the Run for Freedom 4-Miler on the July4 in Ocala.

Stephens, who is a salesman at the Running Center in Tampa and lives in Temple Terrace, said he hasn't ruled out the possibility of becoming a high school cross country or track coach and is working toward a degree in anthropology at USF.

Last year, Stephens ran 47 road races and a couple of cross country and track races.

He's not dreaming about running marathons but has an unusual fantasy run.

"One race I would like to run is the Mount Washington Road Race in New Hampshire," said Stephens, who packs some power in his 140-pound frame. "It is 7.6 miles. It is basically straight up a mountain. I can't really afford to take a trip up there. Over the years, I have discovered I am an endurance runner. I think I have the most talent running on difficult terrain like Whispering Pines. ...

"I am more of a powerful runner than a speed runner. I have been known to kick people down at the end. I don't have a whole lot of speed. Usually when I beat people, I am running pretty hard the last mile. I won 34 races last year. I don't think I am particularly fast, but I am a good racer."

[Last modified June 14, 2005, 01:25:21]