Harris Wins C-USA Athlete of the Week Honors
2/17/2004 12:00:00 AM
Feb. 17, 2004
TCU track & field standout Jerry Harris has been honored as the Conference USA indoor track & field athlete of the week, the conference office announced today. Harris was honored for his outstanding performance at the Tyson Foods - Razorback Invitational in Fayetteville over the weekend.
Harris, a senior from Alexandria, Virginia, turned in the fastest time in the world this indoor season in the 400 meter dash by taking the gold medal on Friday in an NCAA automatic and school record time of 45.52 seconds. The previous school record was 46.26, set by Johnny L. Collins II on March 5, 2000. Harris's previous indoor personal best time was 46.34 seconds. On Saturday, Harris ran the anchor leg on TCU's winning 4x400 meter relay squad. He took the baton several meters behind the Arizona State runner, but edged him at the tape to give the Frogs the gold medal in an NCAA automatic qualifying time of 3:06.03, the third fastest time in the nation this season.
Harris is the fourth Flyin' Frog honored by the conference this spring. 800-meter specialist Jackson Langat has won the award twice, while MaKeatha Cooper captured the award once.
Harris's performance over the weekend helped the Frogs jump to 11th in the Trackwire Top 25 national poll, released today. TCU had been unranked in the previous three polls. The Frogs are expected to garner 20 points at the NCAA Indoor Championships, scoring a pair of second place finishes from Harris in the 400 and Langat in the 800, and a fifth place finish from the 4x400 meter relay unit. Arkansas remains the favorite to win the indoor title, as they figure to score 73 points at the meet. LSU (47), Auburn (39), Stanford (37) rank two through four in this week's poll. The Trackwire 25 projects a hypothetical score for the NCAA meet, factoring in injury reports and other variables supported by information gathered from coaches and NCAA-qualifying competitions across the country.
Harris and the rest of the Flyin' Frogs will next be in action at the Conference USA Indoor Track & Field Championships, set for the University of Houston campus on February 27-28.
Trackwire Men's Poll
1. Arkansas 73
2. LSU 47
3. Auburn 39
4. Stanford 37
5. Michigan 23
Minnesota 23
7. Texas 22
Florida 22
Baylor 22
10. UCLA 21
11. TCU 20
12. Ohio State 18
Players Mentioned
