Carol gets ready for next journey

Carol Lee rushes for a return in one of her World ITF Junior Circuit tournaments last year. (Contributed Photo)

Pacific Games gold medalist Carol Lee is capitalizing on her time away from tennis to finish high school and prepare for her next journey.

With social distancing in effect and outdoor events highly discouraged amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Lee had to cancel all her tennis-related activities, giving her more time to work on getting her high school diploma.

“I have been pretty busy trying to finish my high school online program,” said Lee, who is NCAA Division 1-bound this year after receiving a full-ride scholarship from Georgia Tech.

Before joining the Yellow Jackets, Lee is scheduled to compete in several pro tournaments, but her plans had to be canceled due to the pandemic.

“There were three tournaments I was planning to compete before I enter college. I am scheduled to compete in Asian countries and play in the Korea Pro Circuit that is supposed to be held in June. I was also thinking of competing in Europe and other countries before the COVID-19 pandemic happened,” Lee said.

“Now, I can’t practice because of the situation, so I am focusing more on my studies, while I am also doing more fitness workouts and sticking to healthy eating habits,” said the record five-time Tan Siu Lin Foundation/Northern Marianas Sports Association Fame Student Athlete of the Year awardee.

The 18-year-old athlete has been taking online classes since her sophomore year after spending most of her time off-island and representing the CNMI to the World ITF Junior Circuit. Lee is done with her junior tennis career last year, finishing the season with a career-high world ranking of No. 114 and seven titles to her credit.

The CNMI player clinched the Open BNP Paribas in New Caledonia and New Caledonia ITF Junior in 2017 and notched three crowns in 2018 (Northern Marianas Junior Championships and the South Pacific Open Junior Championships and Oceania Open Junior Championships in Fiji). She then got two more in her last year with the World ITF Juniors after winning the South Pacific Open anew and the ITF/CAT North African Circuit in Casablanca, Morocco.

Besides her seven championships, Lee also made history for the CNMI in her final year in the ITF Juniors after becoming the first player from the Commonwealth to have played in two Grand Slam events—the U.S. Open (juniors) and Australian Open (juniors).

Lee, who won the gold medal in the doubles event (with Colin Sinclair) of the 2019 Pacific Games in Samoa, was very grateful for her fruitful career in the World ITF Junior Circuit, as her experience in the competition will definitely help her when she face another challenge in college and suits up for Georgia Tech.