By: Carolyne Harris
KENNESAW, GA – Three-time ASUN Conference Champion,
Anthony Harrison, found his journey with track and field to be one for the books.
Harrison, the senior from Brooklyn, NY. flew south to attend Kennesaw State and unlike most athletes, has competed for the Owls for all five years of his collegiate career.
He originally committed to the University of Buffalo in New York but later reconsidered what was best for him. Harrison had been in contact with KSU before committing to Buffalo, so he decided to give the Owls a second chance.
While on his visit, Harrison committed on the spot.
"I just knew this was going to be the place for me," he said. "The people, the atmosphere, the coaching, everything just aligned itself."
During his freshman year at Ramapo High School, he ran track to stay in shape for the football season. He was originally a runner, and his coach made him do jumps and runs, but like most he was not a fan of running in 32-degree weather. He always saw people throwing at the circle and he was interested in what they were doing. At first, his coaches did not take his curiosity seriously. They shooed him away multiple times and thought he was just trying to get out of practice. Harrison kept coming back, wanting just one shot to try and throw, and he got that chance.
"It went from there. I kind of feel like everything just set off from there. I began to just fall in love with the sport the more and more I did it," Harrison said. "I eventually quit football in my junior year of high school and dedicated all of my time into track and landed myself here in Kennesaw."
In his junior year of high school, Harrison began having feelings about where he wanted to go to college and what his future was going to look like. He had received interest from colleges for both football and track, and he was going to see how the seasons went before deciding on which to pursue. During that football season, Harrison suffered a major concussion and was not sure if football was for him.
"With track, everything started to fall into place that same year. I made it to state championships, medaled both times in indoor and outdoor, and started to receive a lot of attention from it. Essentially from a recruiting standpoint and that stuck out to me a lot."
Harrison has been a true leader for this Kennesaw State program and his character is true to who he is. His connection with the team and career accolades allowed him to be in a position to lead. He never wants to impose himself as a leader, but he believes leading by example is the best approach.
"I feel like it is the way I connect with everybody. I have tried to be an approachable and easy to talk to person. I think it resonates with all my teammates. I have a great relationship with all my team. I love them to death. I look at them no differently," he said. "They are my family. I try to relate with people more than anything. I am just a big fan of supporting my teammates and just being a good person to be around."
Harrison says one of the reasons why this sport is the best is because of the people he has met along the way. This was also a factor for him when deciding whether or not he would continue his career in college.
"The friends, the people that I meet every time I got to a track meet. I'm always talking to somebody that I know. The relationships you build. There's so much to like about the sport."
"It is long, obviously, no one wants to sit there for 12 hours, but from an athlete's perspective, those 12 hours give you time to talk with people and connect with your friends. The overall atmosphere is what made me fall in love with the sport and I would say that's what really made my mindset click."
In his free time, Harrison and his teammates will go hunting when they are not at the track.
"Funny enough, a dude from New York going hunting is crazy. We go fishing or we'll just go out, go to the mall, hang out together. You know, just finding ways to make our bond stronger as teammates."
Harrison is majoring in sociology because of how much he genuinely likes people and loves to be around them. He says it can cover anything between politics, culture, and the types of environments people grow up in. These are all topics the athlete finds interesting.
Harrison plans to get into tech sales and begin working in June and is excited to start this next phase of his life.
Track and field has taught Harrsion a lot of lessons over the years. His biggest takeaway was consistency and just how much progress can be made by keeping up with something.
"Waking up every day, going to practice, working out, even when you do not feel like it. Even when the day stinks, you still do it anyways. Every day adds up, even the bad days and I feel like I take that with me in life now. It taught me to be really determined, and no matter what goes on in your life, as long as you stay good at something, you will get better. You just have to show up for yourself."
Harrison is still undecided on whether or not he will continue to compete in track and field on the professional level. He said that it all boils down to how well his body holds up. He always wants to be involved with the sport and will continue to be a fan of KSU.
"I am going to come to the track meets and scream my head off. Shoutout to all my teammates, but I definitely still want to be around the culture for sure. It's just something I'm just going to wait and see what the future holds."
Harrison has a few words that he wants to leave with Owl Nation as he graduates.
"Thank you. I would say I am extremely grateful for all of this time I have spent here at Kennesaw. I mean it has been extremely transformative for me both as an athlete, leader, and a student. I am just forever grateful. I look forward to being a part of the culture even when I'm done competing in track and field. I'm going to be there as a fan and I look forward to just forever repping Owl Nation."
