2000 HIGH SCHOOL MEN'S ATHLETE OF THE YEAR--RICKEY HARRIS

by Kirk Reynolds
Rickey Harris regrets only one thing about his 2000 season, one which earned him our High School Athlete Of The Year honors on the men's side. No, he doesn't lament just missing the national record in the 400H. And no, he doesn't bemoan staying away from the Olympic Trials. What nags the AOY?

"As far as this year goes," he shares, "I regret dislocating my shoulder. That's it. Because Penn Relays could have been a really great race for me; that was the first time my steps were on. And my steps haven't been on since the Penn Relays."

Even if Harris's steps haven't been smooth this season, they have been quick. The Centreville High (Clifton, Virginia) grad earned No. 1 rankings in the 400H and the 110H, plus a No. 3 in the 400. He clocked bests of 50.07 (just missing the all-time best of 50.02) and 13.50 over hurdles, plus a sparkling 46.21 for a flat lap.

Harris, also top-ranked in '99 in the 400H, first dislocated his shoulder in November, then had it pop out again during some indoor races.

"The problem with my shoulder was once I thought it was healed, I'd be reckless with it," he remembers. "At Penn Relays, the only reason my shoulder dislocated was because I thought it had healed. When I was going over the hurdles, I swung it out way too far back, and it dislocated and I could not finish the race."

Now in his first semester at Florida, the 18-year-old Harris will spend some fall rehab time in the Gator training room since the shoulder still hasn't fully recovered. Under Florida sprint and hurdle coach Mike Holloway, Harris will begin the transition from high school running to collegiate. According to Harris, Holloway sees some promise.

"He saw me run the 400H at Junior Nationals when I went 50.07," says Harris. "And he said, 'Rickey, if you weren't scared to 13-step, you would go 48.9.' But the problem is, I'm a really fast 400 runner. So it throws off my steps because I get to the hurdle so fast, what happens is I end up adjusting my steps so close [to the hurdle] and taking 15, 16 steps."

Harris insists that his events at Florida won't change much from high school: he'll concentrate on the 400H, and he'll continue to compete in the 110s along with flat 400s and 4x4 legs.

His main goal is to stay healthy and reap the educational benefits that his track prowess brings. "I've got to get my degree," says Harris, "because if I get injured, I'm worthless."

Harris used the flat 400 to get stronger for the hurdles and ended up with the nation-leading mark in each event. "The 400H and the 400-those are my favorites," he says. "The 400H, you can't make a mistake! If I make a mistake at the first hurdle, it's going to be with me all the way to the last. In the 400, I can slow down in one little section, and maybe I can still win the race."

Although he qualified for the Oly Trials in Sacramento in the long hurdles, Harris chose not to go: "All year I wanted to go to the Trials. Then once I finally qualified for it, I was tired. I was like, 'I don't want to do this anymore.'

"I went to two other USA meets instead-one in Mexico and one in Canada. Canada was cold. It was freezing outside-cold enough for me to go 53 seconds. In Mexico, I didn't do so hot. I went 51.4, but it wasn't nearly as bad as Canada."

Despite a few rough bumps, Harris is generally pleased with his season: "It wasn't a horrible year, but I didn't accomplish the goals that I wanted. Just little mistakes. Actually, they weren't little. There were a lot of big mistakes. But for me to run the times I did with big mistakes, I'm proud. Even though I didn't get to do what I wanted to do, I did good. I had a good year and I was very pleased with my year."

Reflecting on his prep career as a whole, Harris says, "I'm happy; it's a start. I just want to do what I'm supposed to do. My biggest goal isn't to be a superstar just yet. My biggest goal is to not get injured. I know if I don't get injured, I have the potential to be somebody."

(This story originally appeared in the November issue of T&FN)

Men's AOY Voting
As the top returning vote-getter from last year's balloting, Ricky Harris was a logical preseason choice for No. 1, but the history books are littered with youngsters who didn't get better as seniors (for the most recent example, think hurdler Jermaine Cooper, runner-up in AOY balloting in '98, but without a vote in '99).

Harris had no trouble in moving up from the No. 4 spot (after a No. 15 as a precocious soph), garnering 22 of 25 votes for No. 1 to score a resounding win. The other No. 1s went to distance stars Donald Sage (2) and Dathan Ritzenhein (1). Ritzenhein will be back next year, as will the No. 4, vaulter Sage Thames.
This year's 15 vote-getters:

1. Rickey Harris (Centreville, Clifton, Va), hurdles-- 246
2. Donald Sage (York, Elmhurst, Ill), distances-- 189
3. Dathan Ritzenhein (Rockford, Mich),distances-- 187
4. Sage Thames (Frenship, Wolfforth, Tex), pole vault-- 150
5. Josh McCaughey (Hendricken, Warwick, RI), hammer-- 133
6. Allen Simms (Roosevelt, Greenbelt, Md), long jump/triple jump-- 121
7. Niklas Arrhenius (Mountain View, Orem, Ut), discus-- 90
8. Paul Klemic (Mainland, Linden, NJ), high jump-- 82
9. Ryan Hall (Big Bear, Big Bear City, Calif), mile-- 56
10. Kevin Bookout (Stroud, Okla), shot/discus-- 39
11. Alan Webb (South Lakes, Reston, Va) 33; 12. Otis Harris (Hinds County, Utica, Miss) 24; 13. tie, Jonathan Johnson (Abilene, Tex) & Bennie Brazell (Westbury, Houston, Tex) 12; 15. Brendan Christian (Reagan, Austin, Tex) 1.