Turner standout Eddie Harmon to compete in two sports at Northern

In the history of Turner athletics, few have had more decorated careers than Eddie Harmon. And now, Harmon will continue his athletic career at Montana State University-Northern, in two sports - basketball and cross country.

Of course, it's no surprise to see Harmon garner interest due to his running abilities. Over the past two years, Harmon has won three individual state titles in Class C track, winning the 800-meter run in both 2017 and 2018, as well as the 400 in 2018.

That resume got plenty of schools around the state, such as the University of Montana, Carroll College and Rocky Mountain College, interested in Harmon as a track athlete. However, he wanted to play college basketball and MSU-N head coach Shawn Huse gave him that opportunity.

"It was always my dream, since I was a little kid to play college basketball," Harmon said. "That was important to me. And I will get to do cross country, which I think I will like more than track anyways. And Northern had the program I wanted. I am going to be in the diesel program."

While Harmon is a state champion in track, he put together a stellar hoops career at Turner, too. This past season, he averaged 17 points, six rebounds, three assists and a block per game for the Tornadoes, as he earned First-Team All-District honors in the 9C.

"Eddie is a guy that has come to our camps for years and understands and fully embraces our Northern basketball program," Huse said in a press release. "He is a fantastic student-athlete who is excited to be at Northern working towards a degree in our dynamic diesel technology field. We are elated to have a young man on board with the work ethic, high character, maturity, focus and athleticism that he has. We look forward to watching his progress as he transitions to the four-year college basketball level."

Going from Class C basketball in the 9C to the Frontier Conference is not going to be easy. But as Harmon is likely going to redshirt during the 2018-19 season, he will have sometime to work on his game.

"The biggest thing for me is just trying to get stronger and improving my game," Harmon said. "I just have to keep trying to get better."

In addition to working on his basketball skills, Harmon said he expects to run cross country for Northern this fall and said he will continue to do it while he is eligible.

"I will be running this fall," Harmon said. "I am excited about it. I have done some distance running, but I think it will be fun. I am excited about that, too."

Harmon is one of two state champions in the history of Turner sports. He won the first state title in school history in 2017, taking the 800. Then, he won two more titles this past season and was joined by Cody Welsh, who won the 300 hurdles. Harmon also helped the Tornadoes basketball team win a game in each of the past two seasons in the district tournament, ending another drought.

"Eddie is a kid with a lot of athleticism," Huse said. "He needs to get used to this level of play, but he has a lot of room to grow and he's just a really good kid."