Posted: May 03, 2019
Freshman Da'Lon Harris Prepares for the NJCAA Outdoor T&F National Championships
COLLEGE PARK, Md. (May 3, 2019) - As the evening cooled off in College Park on the University of Maryland campus, Coach Pryor had just one thing in mind. He wanted to get through this last meet without any injuries so his young freshman could compete at the Nationals.
The end of the regular season was upon the CCBC Catonsville track team and it was as planned. A tune-up meet in preparation for the biggest and most competitive meet of the year against the nation's best Junior College teams. Coach Pryor didn't want this meet to be a "last chance" to qualify but another step toward achieving the season goals set in the beginning of the season.
Da'Lon Harris has worked hard since September and now all of that work was coming to fruition. The Kehoe Twilight meet was part of his preparation to perform well at the nationals. He was only scheduled to run the 200m event. It was an opportunity to get some speed work in and turn his legs over.
The Univ of Maryland T&F team decided to use the new IAAF International timing system which utilizes a light and computerized sound in place of a traditional starter's pistol. Unfortunately, the speaker system for the new starting system was not adequate and barely audible. Harris was anxious to run fast and achieve another Nationals qualifier. But when the sound signaled for all the runners to start, Da'Lon didn't hear it and his reaction was visibly slower than all of his competitors. And that slow reaction caused a slower than usual time for Harris.
Afterwards, Coach Pryor laughed and chalked this meet up as a learning experience. Especially if this is the first of many more meets to come for Da'Lon Harris where the international timing system is used. Those meets are College nationals, US nationals, Junior nationals and the US Olympic Trials.
The 2019 NJCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships are scheduled for May 16-18th in Hobbs New Mexico hosted by New Mexico Junior College. Stay tuned for more information and ways to watch this event live on-line.
The link for the results can be found below:
The link for the NJCAA Championships can be found below: