Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/847744
VARSITY VIEWS A year ago, as a freshman, Isaiah Harris put together one of the more decorated seasons in Penn State track and field history. He won in- door and outdoor Big Ten titles in the 800 meters, finished fourth in the event at the NCAA championships and made the final of the 800 meters at the U.S. Olympic trials, finishing sixth. So heading into his sophomore season, Harris felt pressure to succeed. "Sometimes it's really hard when you have a really good year to come back and do it again," he said. "A lot of people, you know, have a slump year or something like that. I was just trying to not let that hap- pen." He achieved his goal. Harris finished second at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships at the University of Oregon on June 9, capping a sophomore season in which he briefly had the top 800-meter time in the NCAA (1 minute, 45.12 seconds), won two more Big Ten titles, broke the world record in the 600-meter run (he finished second behind former Penn State middle-distance star Casimir Lox- som, who officially holds the record, at the Penn State National in January) and helped the Nittany Lions to the Big Ten outdoor title, the first in the program's history. "I really focused on doing all the little things in practice and just pushing myself to be better than I was last year," Harris said. The only person ahead of him in the rankings heading into the NCAA cham- pionships was UTEP freshman Em- manuel Korir, who ran a personal-best time of 1:43.73 just one week after Harris had claimed the top time in the nation. Neither Harris nor Penn State coach John Gondak was exactly sure what to expect in the final. Said Gondak, "We talked about being at the right place at the right time." Harris put himself there. Coming around the third turn on the final lap of FULL SPEED AHEAD After a stellar debut, Isaiah Harris maintains his blistering pace as a sophomore | Penn State earned its third consecutive top-20 finish at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, as the men's team tied Southern Cal for 20th overall. The Nittany Lions were 10th in 2015 and 17th last season. "This was another great weekend for Penn State track and field," head coach John Gondak said. "I think the kids came and competed well. We had a lot of peo- ple come and finish with personal bests. This meet left us a little hungry, we've been on fire since our meet at [Virginia] in the middle of April, and we carried it through the Big Ten championships and a phenomenal regional meet, advancing 15 men to the championships this week- end." Isaiah Harris, claimed outdoor All- America honors for the second time in his career, finishing second in the 800 meters. Also earning All-America hon- ors were throwers David Lucas (discus) and Michael Shuey (javelin). The Penn State women finished in a tie with Mississippi and Harvard for 29th place. Dannielle Gibson (triple jump) and Tori Gerlach (3,000-meter steeplechase) won All-America recog- nition. ■ TRACK & FIELD Nittany Lions 20th at NCAA championships QUICK SILVER Harris (center) finished second in the 800 at NCAAs. Photo by Rhianna Gel- hart