Harlan was also a provisional qualifier in the 110 hurdles (Riceowls.com) |
1. You took fifth place in the decathlon last season at the NCAA Championships as a junior and head into the 2003 season as the top ranked senior based on your top score last year of 7,948. Do you consider yourself the favorite in the NCAA decathlon heading into this season?
Do I consider myself the favorite in the NCAA decathlon in 2003? In short yes. Yet not. You see I felt like I was #1 last year and depending on how informed you are you might see why. It is quite interesting, but in every major decathlon in my life there has been an injury involved. Most people do not know that in March when I scored 7,948 points at the A&M decathlon meet, I had seriously injured my right arm on the first throw of the competition. You see my first throw at that A&M meet in March I completely tore my ligament in my right arm in half. But we did not think it was that bad so I never got an MRI on it until after Nationals. So that's right for the entire 2002 season starting at the first decathlon at A&M I had one less ligament in my right arm. So getting fifth in the decathlon with a ligament completely torn in two pieces from my right arm was not so devastating.
You see if you go back and look at it, after the pole vault (the eighth event) I had a commanding lead and all I had to do is throw what I normally can throw in the javelin and run a decent 1500m and I would have an easy win. But that obviously was not God's will, for every time I tried to even lift the javelin over my head there was such a powerful debilitating pain in my elbow that I could hardly throw without crying. Somehow by the grace of God I did throw 168 feet in the javelin, but that pales in comparison when you think that I had been three stepping over 205 feet in practice all fall. That's right, one injury from one throw in one decathlon I feel kept me from the #1 spot this past year, but I am glad that Claston was able to win and I know now that it was God's will for Claston to win and I am happy for him, he is a great guy, and had a great year. With all this said I guess I should say that it was a miracle in and of itself that I was even able to compete this year, because when the surgeon's went into my elbow to perform the 'Tommy Johns' surgery they said that the joint fluid gushed out and that there was not even the smallest piece of the ligament still in place.
How did I pole Vault? How did I throw Shot? How did I throw Discus? Surely there is more than just an earthly explanation. For my bodies performance is my biggest platform through which to share Christ with the world and I was able to do that this year, because of God's grace, so in a sense this was a great year. Another side note: I also had a bone growth on the back of my ankle/foot that was actually so big it was cutting into my achilles tendon and when I would planter flex was actually making contact with my tibia bone, so that explains why I was 6 stepping in the high jump at nationals and not taking my normal 10 step approach, and although I can easily jump over 6'10" with just a 4 to 6 step approach it is just not the same as having the potential of the 7'1"+ jump that is attainable from my ten step approach. Anyways that being said I did have surgery to remove the bone from my ankle and it is feeling great and my arm is feeling a ton better already, but these rehabilitation times do make it a tough decision as to if I will even compete this next outdoor season. I want to be 100% so I can attain the highest collegiate mark before I graduate and if I have to wait another season and red shirt outdoors this year than so be it. God's will be done.
2. Back in 2000, you were the U.S. junior national champion in the decathlon. Describe the two day affair that weekend and what you did to accomplish the victory.
In one word 'pain'. You see I had a highly aggravated nerve in my big toe on my plant foot that I had injured in the decathlon at Texas Relays earlier that year, the same competition that I high jumper 7'1/2" in the decathlon after I had aggravated the nerve. So the decathlon at junior nationals I was not worried about points or anything like that I just wanted to win and not destroy my foot in the process. So I did what it took to win the competition tailing the guy from Tennessee (who was in 2nd) in the 1500 until the last lap to ensure a victory and had surgery later that summer to remove the aggravated nerve. I was disappointed that I did not have a better throw in the javelin the second day because I was warming up at over 200 feet, but I tensed up in the competition. Oh well, lesson learned and there are plenty to be learned in the decathlon.
3. Perhaps your best event is the 110m hurdles as you hold a personal best time of 13.90. Have you always been a natural hurdler when you decided to give the decathlon a try?
I think the easiest way to answer this question is to say, what drew me into the decathlon. Which was the simple fact that I was this 6'3" 195+ lbs athlete that was running the hurdles like he wasn't 6'3" 195+ lbs and could high jump like he wasn't 6'3" 195lbs. Or another way of putting it,my body had potential capabilities in other events beyond what I was currently competing in. That is what caught Coach Ray Davidson's eye when he saw me competing at Texas Relays my Senior year in high school. That is one of the reason I say that you do not select the decathlon the decathlon selects you. I was high jumping before I was 8 yrs old and I have done hurdles ever since I knew what hurdles were. My extreme flexibility is one solid reason why I have always excelled in the hurdles.
4. What will you try to do different, if anything, to score over 8,000 points this season?
In the next decathlons I do, which who knows when that might be, I will just try and have all of my ligaments attached and all bones in their right places and no nerves acting up on me, then 8,000 points will be no problem. Seriously though, I feel like 8,000 points is not the question for me it is all to clear that I am capable of far surpassing that number, it is the simple fact that I need to be healthy and "put one together".
5. Men's track & field programs around the country are being dropped due to reasons given such as Title IX and financial hardship. The WAC currently has only 7 men's programs as well. In your opinion, what do you think can be done in order to stop the men's programs around the country from being dropped?
What can be done? From an athlete's perspective, just keep on keeping on and give your schools reasons not to get rid of a program that the school can be proud of. Increase the team GPA and National standings and let them know that they can take pride in keeping you on the track. Outside of an athletes perspective I believe that we just need to understand what is going on and help the cause as best we can in what ever way we find individually best for all athletes. We definitely need to come together and give them reason to support us.
6. How did your off season training go and how many decathlons and pentathlons do you plan to compete in this season?
My off-season training consisted of two surgeries and rehabilitation, and ab workouts, because that was the only part of my body that was OK. But it is amazing how quickly my body has already bounced back from the surgeries and everything is looking more and more encouraging everyday. I plan on just one pentathlon this year at conference and more than likely no decathlons this season because of my arm. There is no definite answer on outdoors yet however it all depends on the rehab of my right arm.
Harlan looks to break the 8,000 point barrier this season (Riceowls.com) |
7. As the team captain for the Owls, what do you expect out of your teammates each and every weekend?
I expect us to act as a team by doing all that we can individually and picking each other up and supporting each other all that we can. I expect daily motivation, so that each practice is as if it might be your last. The guys know that I have my motivation for this year, losing the national title in the decathlon because of an injury in one event and a terrible 1500m. I expect team unity in a sense that we all know our purpose and we all know our part to make the team a better working entity. I also expect there individual workouts to be used to better the teams chances and not just get them to where they want to be.
8. The world record in the decathlon is 9026 which is held by Roman Sebrle. Do you see many other men scoring over 9,000 points again?
It is always a possibility, and a definite goal personally, but no I do not see many other men being able to do it. I do see it happening again, and as history shows us records are made to be broken and this recored as others will have its time. There will definitely be others to reach the 9,000 point mark, but I feel that they will always be an extreme rarity.
9. What are some of your personal best marks in some of the plyometric jumps?
If we tested before workouts I would probably comment, but we really only test the standing long jump and pure vertical and I would have to look those up, but if I remember correctly (it has been a while) my vertical is always around 40".
10. Although it will not affect you in the decathlon, do you think it's a good idea for the NCAA to go ahead with the new regional qualifying format?
I feel like this change will take a while to get used to, but for the most part it can be seen as positive. I probably would've voted to not go for the change just because I liked the way it has been set up in the past and why fix something that isn't broke, but now looking at it I see a few positives from it. It gives a University like us at Rice a chance to go against some bigger Universities at the Regional meet and have a chance to win, where at the National level some of our guys might not have made it. So the numbers of guys that are able to have a chance at making it to Nationals are up. But it does put a lot of pressure on that race at Regionals and you no longer have the security of saying I am already in. But for the competitive atmosphere I would say it is a plus, because even I want to see that underdog guy at Regionals have a great meet and beat some big shot and make it to the big show. Anyways it will take a while to get used to as all change does, but in the end I see that iit could be a big plus for our sport.
11. Looking into the future, I presume that the 2004 Olympic Trials are on your mind. What will you do until then to make sure you achieve your goals that you set for that year?
Slowly rehab my arm and slowly get ready to put up huge numbers! But above all may God's will be done.