Under flashing neon lights in a darkened gymnasium at Frontenac Secondary School on May 5 local sprinting phenom Wyatt Lee, in front of family, friends, class mates and teachers, announced his commitment to the North Carolina State Wolfpack on a track and field scholarship.
He is considering studying business at NC State but doesn’t have to confirm his major until his second year.
Lee, 18, is a relative newcomer to the track and field world taking the sport seriously just two years ago.
But just how serious has he taken up his new sport?
In June 2025 he shocked the Ontario high school track and field community by winning the 100 metres and 200 metres final races at the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations championships at York University.
In the 100-metre final he ran 10.38 setting an OFSAA record and a U18 Canadian record as well. He finished almost two metres ahead of the second-place finisher. He also took the 200-metre final winning in a time of 21.30 seconds, half a second ahead of the nearest rival.
Lee had a flair of the dramatic when he made his choice of American college on May 5. At a table with a Frontenac Secondary School backdrop decorated with festive balloons there were three hats from NCAA schools placed on a table. He tried on each hat before grabbing the North Carolina hat from under the table and taking off his sweatshirt to display a NC State T-shirt while flashing the Wolfpack’s hand gesture.
Lee said scouts from NCAA colleges often watch Canadian runners at provincial championships and other elite track & field events.
“They’re great people,” Lee said of the North Carolina state scouts and coaches. “I am about to apply after today and they’re going to help me through the process.”
This season Lee won a pair of races in early May to open up the track season at a meet in Baltimore, Maryland. In the 100 metres he clocked a 10.56 and the 200 ran 21.69 despite battling a calf cramp.
He’s now gearing up to defend his 100 and 200 metres provincial title in the high school track season and is looking forward to the club season this summer with the Flying Angels out of Toronto.
Lee’s first couple of years in high school he played football, rugby at Frontenac before discovering track and field.
“I wasn’t overly good at them but they were kind of fun,” Lee said. “When I first started running in grade 10 people were be like ‘he’s noticeable” and I really started taking off and people said ‘who is this guy?" Then I went into my indoor season and I did insanely good people said we know who this guy is now,” he said. “Now I’ll go to the States and people will really know me.”
Geoff Stephen, Lee’s track coach at Frontenac has seen a lot of sprinters in the last 18 years running for the Falcons.
“He’s exactly the kind of person you want where the most talented person is also an extremely hard worker. He could just coast on his raw ability but he’s the kind of guy that invests that time, energy and attention to continuously improve and get better and that’s exactly who you want to have on a track and field team,” Stephen said.
“I think he’s still just scratching the surface and as long as he keeps surrounding himself with great coaches like Cole Horsman from the Flying Angels that ceiling keeps getting higher.”
Over his almost two decades of coaching high school track and field Stephen has seen a lot of fast runners.
“But nobody quite that quick.”
Horsman, also a Frontenac Secondary School sprinter in his high school days, said in an interview that Lee has made great progress in the 18 months he’s coached him.
“Track is a tough world; a lot of work goes into even minor shifts in time but he was able to pull off some new personal bests this year so his trajectory and future is quite bright,” he said. “It’s exciting.”
Lee’s family, his father Tyler, mother Rebecca and sister Sophie attended the ceremony.
“He was always very fast and athletic,” Tyler said after the ceremony.
His dad was his unofficial chauffer driving Wyatt to track practice in Toronto numerous times a week and track meets in the United States.
“Even in grade five he was dominating the kids but he never actually liked track, he kind of shied away from it and get super nervous,” Tyler Lee said. “Before every race his anxiety was awful and to a point where he wanted to throw up.”
Lee did not run for the next four years until picking up the sport and trading his anxiety for confidence and a competitive spirit.
“I always wasn’t thinking that it would go off that fast but it’s been a great feeling and I want to keep progressing the way I am right now,” Wyatt said.
And by the way he’s progressed there’s no stopping him literally or figuratively now or in the future.
Lee will start the defence of his Ontario high school senior record and sprinting championship when he takes to Caraco Field in Kingston. Preliminary races for the senior division will start at 10 a.m. on Thursday May 14th while the final is scheduled for shortly after 2 p.m.
