Harrison inspired by Pre, determined to succeed

By Mary Albl of DyeStat

When Kashon Harrison needs some motivation, he goes old school and channels the spirit of Steve Prefontaine.

Harrison, a junior from Kirtland Central High in New Mexico, finds inspiration from Pre's quotes, grit and mental toughness.

“Kashon is really motivated by Prefontaine and the way he approached races,” Kirtland Central cross country coach Lenny Esson said.

Harrison has used that fortitude to propel himself onto the national running scene this fall.

He’s won all but one of his races, including a New Mexico 5A state title (15:54.9), and most recently the Foot Locker West Regional crown, clocking 15 minutes, 38.4 seconds on the 5-kilometer course Saturday at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, Calif.

Harrison, who rebounded from an eighth-place finish Nov. 18 at NXR Southwest in Casa Grande, Ariz., heads to the 39th Foot Locker Nationals this Saturday to compete at Balboa Park’s Morley Field in San Diego.  

“This year I wanted to train more, and I did train more,” Harrison said matter-of- factly. “And now I’m going to Foot Locker Nationals and I’m excited for that.”

As simple as Harrison explained his success this year, it’s been so much more than that.

Esson, who has worked with Harrison since the eighth grade, said Harrison has developed his overall base and understanding of the sport. He’s honed in on his self-described “lack of a kick” and has matured. He’s a quiet, but self-driven runner.

“He doesn’t have pure natural speed at the end, but I think he really is mentally a lot stronger than most of the competition he’s been up against,” Esson said. “He wants to make them hurt early and push the pace.”

Harrison comes from an athletic background. His mom played basketball and his father, Vernon, ran for Kirtland Central, winning a state title in 1999. Harrison splits his time between Farmington, N.M. and Red Valley, Ariz., where his dad lives.

He makes the roughly 45-minute to hour commute from Red Valley to Kirtland often. He’s currently training in Red Valley because of the slightly higher altitude.

What has also been a motivating factor for Harrison is the opportunity to represent his Native American culture through running. Harrison, who lives on a reservation, is part of the Navajo Nation. He’s been involved in Wings of America – an organization founded in 1988, which provides Native youth a platform to express their identity through distance running.

“It means a lot,” Harrison said of his opportunity. “It gives me motivation to push more to represent how I was running from my freshman year to my junior year and now heading to nationals.”

Esson said the area they are located, they are surrounded by other tribes, but all in all, the native population is very proud of what Harrison is doing.

“We have a lot of obstacles and barriers that we have here on the reservation, that a lot of the kids don’t have the opportunity,” Esson explained. “For him (Harrison) to do something like this, it opens a lot of doors for our youth, not only competing at this level, but in short term, setting goals.”

Harrison follows in good company of fellow Wings of America products to compete at Foot Locker.

Program Director Dustin Martin mentioned Becki Wells (1991, 1992), Tim and Theo Martin (1992), Brandon Leslie (1993, 1994), Felicia Guliford (2001) and Julia Foster (2010) as some of the individuals to make it to nationals. 

Esson said the 5K course at Balboa Park, with its hills, plays to Harrison’s strengths.

“A big part of his success is that training his mental aspects of how to prepare for a race and how to race,” Esson said.

And like his idol Prefontaine, Harrison said he wants to leave a lasting impression through his running.

“I want to be remembered,” Harrison said.