CCBC Catonsville Freshman Da’Lon Harris T&F College Debut Successful
RICHMOND, Va. (March 30, 2019) – The weather was a warm 76 degrees in Richmond on Saturday. It was a great day to be outside and the CCBC Catonsville Track & Field team was thankful. Battling sub 40 degree cold, windy and freezing conditions the last two weekends were rough on the spirits of the athletes. Having to run in long tights, hats, gloves and long-sleeved shirts hindered performances. But as the sun shined, it made the day even brighter for Coach Pryor and his team traveling down I-95 to the University of Richmond.
The Fred Harvey Invitational attracted over 900 athletes representing 20 schools within Div-I, D-II, D-III and Junior Colleges. It is exactly what the Cardinal T&F team needed.
Freshman Da'Lon Harris competed in the 100m and 200m events primarily in high school. But he has welcomed the transition to the 400m event. A history of hamstring injuries were one reason for the change but also Dalon's toughness and resolve to successful. As Coach Pryor stated, "Dalon is one of the most relentless and hard-working athletes I've coached in 15 years as a college and high school coach". The 400m event is a combination of speed and strength that must be distributed evenly. So far, Dalon has adapted well to his new event.
In his first ever college race, Harris ran a new personal best and recorded a time of :49.11. He placed 5th overall in a field of 31 total runners that included upperclassmen athletes from the Univ. of Virginia, Howard Univ, LaSalle, Norfolk State and Shippensburg. Coach Pryor was extremely happy with the weather which enabled him to allow his young freshman the opportunity to run a good race. It was an excellent initiation.
Coach Pryor held Dalon out of the first two meets where the weather was brutal. When asked about that decision, Pryor said, "I didn't want Da'Lon's first experience with a new event to be hampered by cold weather. The 400m event is already a tough battle, so fighting off the wind and cold is too much for anyone's first time". In Richmond, Harris was happy with his race and glad to finally run as a Cardinal. He returned to the track about an hour later after the 400m and ran the 200m event placing 8th overall out of 47 total entries.
Dalon is anxious to practice this week with his newfound experience to improve his time in the 400m. That's the relentlessness Pryor mentioned.
Freshman Johnny Miango was also busy competing in the 100m, 200m and Long Jump. In the long jump, Miango was able to improve on his personal best with a distance of 17ft 4 1/2. He too is learning a new event and continues to improve as the weather does.
Sophomore Steven Joseph ran the 100m event but felt a slight twinge in his hamstring so Coach Pryor held him out of the 200m and long jump events to prevent further injury and jeopardize his remaining races in the season.
The team's next scheduled event will be April 6th at the Bill Butler Invitational held on the campus of West Chester University in Pa.
A link to the official results are as follows:
https://www.tfrrs.org/results/56990/2019_Fred_Hardy_Invitational/