KC senior in familiar surroundings, wins Jamboree

RIO RANCHO, N.M.

The crowds, the noise, the competition and the course were all familiar signs of another cross-country season about to end for Kirtland Central High senior Kashon Harrison.

Harrison and dozens of runners competed in the Rio Rancho Jamboree, a preview of the state championships, which will be in three weeks.

Harrison finished first with a time of 15:50.7 on the course where he won his first state title last fall.

He said everything about race day came rushing back.

“It felt the same,” he said. “In the beginning everybody took off with me. There’s a lot of people around here … it’s just exciting because it’s the momentum of the people cheering for you.”

Harrison started the race as a leader of the pack with Cleveland High’s Yonas Haile at his heels. But in just a short time and distance, Harrison took the lead.
Harrison said it was an important race as he rebuilds following a third-place finish in the Nike Desert Twilight XC Festival last month.

“I’ve been doing some hard workouts here and there, just still trying to keep it up as long as I can for the postseason, after state,” he said.

Harrison finished hundreds of meters ahead of second-place Haile and Miyamura’s Ty McCray, who placed third.

McCray also ran one of his better races of the season.

The Miyamura senior said things have been going quite well for him leading up to the race.

“I’ve been running against competition all season long so it’s been good,” he said. “Today was actually a good race for me. I kept my pace, kept at a good pace. I tried to catch the next guy but I felt tired.”

---