As a freshman, Shraee Harrison showed enormous potential on the track, regularly running the 400 meters in the 50-second range.
But the San Benito High junior skipped the 2014 track and field season to focus on basketball, making what happened on May 29 all the more rewarding. Harrison won the 400 and finished second in the 200 at the Central Coast Section Track and Field Championships at San Jose City College.
Harrison qualified in both events to the California Interscholastic Federation State Championships on Friday and Saturday at Buchanan High in Clovis.
“I was looking to come out and run my race,” Harrison said. “It’s a nice feeling to win here in the CCS Finals, and I’m looking forward to state.”
Harrison blew away the field in the 400, clocking in a personal-record (PR) time of 48.58 seconds. Harrison had already made up the stagger against the runners on the inside lanes at the 200-meter mark, and by the time he got around the final turn, he was well ahead of the field.
“I thought Shraee was explosive at the start and went down the first straightaway calm and with good form, and that set him up to slingshot the final turn,” Haybalers coach Bob Rawles said. “It was an impressive race and probably his best 400 of the season.”
About an hour later, Harrison was going for his second victory of the meet in the 200. However, a slow start out of the blocks cost him a shot at the win. Despite all of that, Harrison still finished the race in 21.86 seconds, his second best time ever.
But Harrison needed an excellent start out of the blocks to beat Palo Alto junior Eli Givens, who finished in 21.54. Givens was one of the standout athletes of the meet, as he also won the 100 and long jump.
Harrison has had trouble at times getting out of the blocks well, but given that this is just his second year of running competitively, his starts will only improve as he gains more experience.
Rawles also noted that there’s a difference between coming off the blocks at San Benito’s dirt track facility and starting off the blocks at a nice Mondo track such as the one at San Jose City College.
“Shraee is already at a super high level now, but the scary thing is he can get better,” Rawles said.
With Givens and Bellarmine’s Kyle Mcauley in the field—two runners who beat him previously in the CCS Top 8 Classic on April 17—Harrison knew the 200 would be his greatest challenge.
Although Harrison showed tremendous speed to finish second—he was well behind Givens just 50 meters in—he knew it was an opportunity lost. However, Harrison isn’t lacking for confidence, and he’s looking to pull off the double next season.
“I’m looking to run in the high 20s or low 21s soon,” he said. “I know I can get a lot faster, but it’s going to take some time.”
Balers senior Matthew Reikowski finished seventh in the pole vault with a mark of 13 feet, 6 inches, and junior Elijah Changco took 11th in the 1,600 in 4:31.36.
In just his second year as a pole vaulter, Reikowski has made tremendous progress. The senior hit a PR of 14-feet even in the CCS Semifinals, and his 13-6 effort in the finals was the third time he’s hit that number this season.
Changco was also coming off a huge PR in the semifinals, clocking a 4:21.56.
