Saturday, June 9, 2018

Isaiah Harris NCAA Champion!

I can’t wait to talk to the alumni as they’ve been so supportive of us over the years.”
Isaiah Harris. 

The retro Singlet is always appreciated!




There has been a long line of excellent Penn State "2-lappers" who have paved the road that we affectionately call 800U.  And never mind that there are hundreds of others that weren't 800M runners among our group that have also helped cement that moniker even into the national Press.

The 800M is my favorite race to watch and I really enjoyed running it in high school. I just didn't have the talent to pull it off on a bigger stage.  But I consider myself fairly knowledgable on the event.  Watching Penn State half-milers over the last 20 years has been really fun.

Some notable PSU 800M runners I have had the pleasure to watch in the last 18 years
  • Brannon Kidder
  • Casimir Loxsom
  • Domenic Perretta
  • Matt Lincoln
  • Owen Dawson
  • Robby Creese
  • Ryan Foster
  • Sam Borchers
Add these guys to the other generations of middle distance specialists in the preceding generations all the way back to Alan Helffrich (1922-1923 800M NCAA Champion!) and you have 800U!

But all we were missing was another NCAA Champion in modern times.  And it hasn't been easy.  In the last several years there have been overwhelming dominant winners from domestic and afar.  Were we again to be satisfied with an incredible performance only to be celebrating another second place NCAA finish? (Brannon Kidder 2015, Casimir Loxsom 2013, Isaiah Harris 2017)

Very few had Isaiah Harris being able to slay the returning winner and NCAA record-holder Michael Saruni.  Very few except Isaiah and his coach, John Gondak.  They had a plan, and they had a program.  Us lucky Alumni who visited them a few weeks ago got to see that up close and personal.  And many of us started to believe.

The race was run to precision by Isaiah.  He demonstrated his intellect and wisdom at every stage. The fast opening lap of 51.x or so (rough guess) putting him in 5th place right near Saruni. It wasn't anything he hasn't done many times before.  He didn't panic, and held steady until the middle of the backstretch of the second lap.  Anticipating the surge of Saruni, Isaiah gently eased into the lead monentarily before Saruni rushed past, gaining a two-stride lead at the finish of the last turn.  He didn't panic, as Isaiah said he "saw blood" at that point, and knew that Saruni had used too much getting to where he was.

The last 100 meters was what all of us Alumni (Golfers) have been waiting for for "a few" years now. As Isaiah slipped by the defending champion, you could sense that the drought was finally over!

Isaiah eased a tad at the finish, possibly giving up another School Record, but nobody, including him, seems to care. Penn State was on the top of the podium!

Just last week I complimented Isaiah by noting that he has excelled in the classroom also, making all of us proud.  He also demonstrated his humility in post race interviews by including the Alumni in his thoughts.  I think he realizes how much we support the program's success in every aspect.  Any future 800 specialists out there have a role model and a college destination being represented with the highest recommendation posssible.

 




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1 comment:

  1. BudJune 9, 2018 at 11:25 AM

    Great race by Isaiah! I was screaming during the stretch run. Isaiah seems like an outstanding role model and teammate.

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