#10 - Hiding In Plain Sight
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It was a big year for breakout athletes in 2019, as a crop of fresh faces began to emerge. But few had the story that Anthony Harrison (Ramapo) has. He was a strong thrower in 2018, finishing out the season as a top five returner in both the Shot Put and the Disc. He was closer to the top spot in Discus, second overall, albeit ten long feet away from the State Champion, and Top Returner, Steven Vasile (Commack), who brought back his 177-7 best. And so, Harrison would transition back to the turf, bringing along his discus for practice before and after the required summer off-season Football practice.
Track would return in the late fall of 2018. Limited to Shot Put and Weight Throw Indoors, Harrison saw improvements in his marks, going from averaging 50-ft in the Shot, to 53-ft his senior year. It was good enough to dominate Section 1 throwing, and even rank Harrison NY #2 in the event, but in a down year for throwing, terms like State Record and National Contender weren't yet in the conversation. Harrison popped a big mark of 57-7 in early January, but returned to the lower 50's after. It was at the State Meet, with the first real competition pushing the Ramapo Senior, where we saw Harrison pull out a clutch performance. He threw a lifetime best of 59-5.25 to take second, challenging the State Champ John Surdej (Lancaster) at 61-2.75.
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But for Anthony Harrison, it wouldn't be far into the Spring Season for the #10 Moment of the 2018-2019 Season to occur. Discus was back on the docket, and it was time to show the State, and the National, how much all that off-season practice would be put to good use. In New York, most meets before Penn Relays are nothing more than developmental, so much so that State Meet Seeds used to not even count before that benchmark. Much of that is down to weather, with conditions worsening the more North you go. The Pearl River Pirate Relays is typical fare for the first weekend, some years even requiring an ice pick to make the Steeple Pit usable (I'm looking at you, 2009). Needless to say, National marks are not typically expected to come from such an early meet.
Nobody told that to Anthony Harrison. Stepping into the circle, Harrison unleashed a Discus Throw series of 180-5, 177-10, and then a monster final effort of 190-5. In his first competition of the year, (barring dual meets) the Ramapo Senior smashed the Section 1 Record, and debuted his final season at NY #9 All-Time. He ranked US #5 at the time, against States with much warmer weather, and much earlier start dates. For most, the mark came out of nowhere. It was a nearly 30-foot improvement from the year before. But most didn't know the work Harrison had put in in the off-season, and how ready he was to show its' merits.
Harrison would go on to dominate the rest of the season State-wide. Only two athletes had broken 190-ft since 2001, and Harrison would do so five times his Senior year. Less than a month later, Harrison would unleash a lifetime best of 198-5 at the Gold Rush Invite, which now stands as the second best throw by a New Yorker, ever. He would take home the Bronze Medal at New Balance Nationals, a week after winning the State Title in a Meet Record, besting the competition by 30-feet. At States, he gave challenge to the State Record held by Andy Bloom at 202-9, only to tap the toe-bar for a foul in a moment of celebration. Officials guesstimated the mark around 199, but still, the Title was his.
Harrison set the bar for the event in 2019, and is headed to Kennesaw State in the Fall. But it would be that moment at Pearl River that made his name known Nationally. One throw could turn him from local leader, to State Record threat. And for that, it earned our #10 Moment of the Year.