Harmon primed for history

When it comes to high school sports in Turner, state championships don't come around often. In fact, the school has never won a team title in any sport.

That's part of what made Eddie Harmon's individual state championship in the 800-meter run last season so special. It was truly a historic moment for Harmon, who had a parade thrown, in his honor, by the community of Turner.

"It was a pretty big deal," Harmon said. "The whole town was there to support me and they had a big celebration for me. It was a parade and it started about 10 miles out of town and I didn't even realize it was all for me until I got into town. It was pretty incredible."

Winning the 800 and getting a parade thrown in your honor is certainly going to be hard to top. However, Harmon is going to try this weekend at his final Class C state track meet, where he has his eye set on multiple state championships, as well as a team trophy.

"That's our goal," Harmon said of a team trophy, which requires a topthree finish. "That is what we have been working towards. That's what we want. It would be the first time that a team from Turner has done that at state according to the trophy case anyways."

As usual, when it comes to raw numbers, the Tornadoes are going to be at a disadvantage Friday and Saturday at Memorial Stadium in Great Falls. Other teams in contention for the state title will certainly have more than four athletes in attendance, but that's all Turner is taking to Great Falls. Yet, if Harmon can deliver another state championship or even a few, it might be enough.

In all, Harmon will compete in five events over the two-day competition. He will, of course, defend his title in the 800, an event he has won all four times he entered this year, including at the 9C track meet, where he set the school record with a time 2:00.5. While Harmon will have a great chance at repeating in the 800, he is also among the favorites in the 400. He is six-for-six in terms of winning the 400 this season and will return to the track, where he ran a blistering time of 51.13 just more than week ago to win the Northern C Divisional championship.

What makes Harmon truly impressive, though, is his ability to have success in what is more of a distance event like the 800 in addition to dominating in the sprint events. In the 200, Harmon is also undefeated this season, winning all five races he entered and even in the 100, he has three victories, two third-place finishes and a sixth. The senior has also helped the Tornadoes 400-meter relay team place four times, including a second place finish at districts and a fifth at the Northern C, which qualified the group for state this weekend.

"I do have some strategy in the 800," Harmon said. "I just try to pace myself on the first lap and after that, it's just a sprint. But the others, it's just a sprint from start to finish. I just go as hard as I can."

So far, that has worked out beautifully for Harmon, who is projected by Montanatrack.com, to finish in the top three in the 200, 400 and 800. That would be quite an achievement, but Harmon has bigger ideas. In fact, he is hoping for a sweep of those three events and isn't ruling out winning the 100 either, even though it might take a herculean effort to do so.

Corbin Wood of Ennis, the favorite in the 100, posted a time of 10.98 at the Western C Divisional, more half a second faster than the 11.57 Harmon posted. Wood also comes in with about the same advantage in the 200, meaning he is well positioned to hand Harmon his first second-place finish in the event all year.

However, in the 400 Harmon will have a chance to flip the script, as he comes in favored over Wood, who comes in with the second-best time of 51.29, compared to Harmon, who ran a 51.13 May 17. Harmon will also be the favorite in the 800, even though he won't bring the best time to the event. That will be Kordell Carpenter of Denton-Geyser-Stanford, who posted a time of 1:58.78 at the Northern C, on the new track at Memorial Stadium, which is lightning fast. Harmon decided not to run at divisionals, since he was already pre-qualified, instead focusing on the other sprints, so his time of 2:00.64 on a windy day in Havre still stacks up well.

"I am not going to guarantee anything," Harmon said, "but I want to win every race. That is my goal anyways. That is what I have been working towards. We have put in a lot of extra work this season and hopefully that keeps paying off."

Harmon will also try to help his team score points in the short relay, as he will run with Cody Welsh, his younger brother Jack Harmon and Clayton Krass. On top of that, the Tornadoes will also get help in their team trophy quest from Welsh, who is a strong candidate to score some points of his own in the 100 hurdles, the 300 hurdles and potentially the long jump.

But when it's all said and done, a lot of what happens with Turner is going to come down to Harmon plain, and simple. Before he even steps onto the track Friday, Harmon holds school records in the 100, 400 and 800. He is also seeking the school record in the 200, which has eluded him by around a tenth of a second.

Winning state championships, a team trophy and setting a school record. Those are all on the list of things for Harmon to do the next two days and if he somehow does achieve them all, one could only imagine the kind of parade Turner would throw for him this time.

"I can't even imagine what that would be like," Harmon said. "If we were able to get a trophy or somehow win state, I think everyone would go crazy."