Tech Signs an All-American

Queen Harrison will be a Hokie

BLACKSBURG, Va. - The Virginia Tech track and field program has announced the signing of Queen Harrison to a National Letter of Intent for the 2006-07 year.

Harrison, a senior at Hermitage High School in Richmond, Va., earned All-American honors in the triple jump and in the 4x200 meter-relay in 2005. She was the runner-up at the Nike Indoor National Meet in the triple jump and helped her high school to a second-place finish in the 4x200m relay.

She has earned two Virginia State AAA individual championships in the long jump. Harrison was also a runner-up at the 2005 Virginia State Indoor Championships in the 300m event with a personal-best time of 40.11. Her personal-best of 39-11.75 in the triple jump is sixth-best nationally among returning athletes in the event. In addition to those events, she has personal bests of 24.67 for 200m, 56.24 for 400m, 43.17 for the 300m hurdles and 18-11.75 in the long jump.

Harrison is an honor student and is active in her community doing volunteer work. She serves as a mentor for 6th graders at her local middle school.

\"Queen is without question the best all-around female high school athlete in Virginia,\" Dave Cianelli, Director of Track and Field said. \"She missed the championship portion of her season last spring due to injury. At her district meet she fell during the 300m hurdle race, got up, and finished the race and won with a broken collarbone.

\"Coach Walter Spain at Hermitage has done a wonderful job with her development. Coach Lawrence Johnson (Tech\'s sprint, hurdle, jumps coach) did an awesome job recruiting Queen and will guide her to national levels as a collegiate athlete.\"

Harrison is the daughter of Alicia Wingate of Richmond, Va., and picked Virginia Tech over Hampton, Wisconsin and Texas Christian.