Alliyah Harrison plans to make the most of her last opportunity at UIL state track meet
Alliyah Harrison swept the 100 meters, 200, 400 and triple jump events at the Region II-A track meet two weeks ago on her way to another state track appearance in Austin on Saturday.
In 2022, Harrison took home the bronze medal in the 200 and 400 at the state track meet, but this year she aims to become the state champion.
“I do (have high expectations) just knowing that I do have the potential to win,” Harrison said. “It’ll be hard, it’s the state track meet, but I’m excited going into it just knowing that I could come out with a gold medal.”
Harrison is a multisport athlete at Veribest high school competing in cross country, basketball, volleyball and track, which Harrison said is her favorite.
Being a multisport athlete and wanting to focus more on track, Harrison originally planned to not play volleyball this past season Veribest coach Denise Richards said. But she decided she would play volleyball another year to help the team.“To (practice volleyball) day in and day out when it’s not your favorite thing to do because you want to win and you want your team to be good and you want to be good, she just likes to win,” Richards said. “(With Harrison) it’s about ‘How can I help the team?’”
At the Region II-A track meet this year, Harrison finished the 100 with a time of 12.40 seconds, the 200, which she said is her favorite event, at 25.71, the 400 with a time of 59.31 and the triple jump with a jump of 36-feet, 4-inches. All of which are the top times for Class A athletes competing at this year’s state track meet.
Harrison ramped up the intensity of her practices since regionals but said that she knows that track is more of a mental competition, especially at the state level.
“I mean you can’t get much better in a week,” Harrison said. “So, I know that I’ve put the time and effort in that I have to get to state. And so now I just have to mentally prepare myself for the meet, the weather, the people, it’s a whole different atmosphere and so I’ve had to prepare for that.”
As a senior, this is Harrison’s last opportunity to take home a state championship, but she is most excited to see her family and friends, who will make the trip to Austin with her, cheering in the stands.
“I have a really big cheer section,” Harrison said. “And I’m excited just having everybody watch me. This is what I love, and this is my last opportunity.”
All the Class A competitions will take place on Saturday and Harrison will compete in the 100 at 6:05 p.m., the 200 at 7:30 p.m., the 400 at 5 p.m. and the triple jump at 1 p.m.
This article originally appeared on San Angelo Standard-Times: Alliyah Harrison to make most of her opportunity at state track meet
