Laura Harmon saved her best race of the season for just the right time. The senior from Vancouver, Wash., took All-American honors Monday at the NCAA Cross Country Championships in Terre Haute, Ind.
“It’s exactly how I wanted the season to end,” Harmon said.
Oregon’s top runner all season, Harmon finished 31st (21:08) at the LaVern Gibson Championship Course against the nation’s best 255 female harriers.
“She ran an awesome race,” cross country head coach Marnie Mason said. “Everything played out how we planned.”
Harmon started off the race with her usual patient approach, waiting until the last 800 meters to make her move.
“I ran pretty conservatively,” Harmon said, but added that “it felt aggressive for me.”
After the first mile, Harmon was near 70th place, moving up to around 60th by the halfway mark. With a little less than a mile left, she positioned herself in the 38th spot. To finish the race, Harmon picked off several more runners in the final 400-meter stretch, securing an All-American end to her cross country career.
“She had an awesome finish,” Mason said. “When I saw her with a half-mile to go, I knew with her speed she would be in the All-American hunt.”
Harmon had additional motivation for the NCAA meet after a sub-par performance at the West Regional.
“She wasn’t super pleased with regional, but it gave her fuel to do well here,” Mason said.
Mason was also happy with Harmon’s composure at her first individual national race (Harmon competed as a freshman with the 2000 Duck cross country team at nationals).
“The impressive thing was how intelligently she competed in her first time at the national level and wasn’t shaken during the race,” Mason said. “It shows her maturity and how big a goal being All-American was.”
Harmon and the other runners were forced to clop through a sloppy trail, as the all-grass course received a downpour Sunday night.
Harmon, who described the mud-laden course as “fun and swampy,” didn’t see any negatives about the damp grounds.
“I never had any major problems with the footing,” she said. “Everybody had to deal with the weather, and I tried to look at the course early to see where the messy parts were so I could try and avoid the problem areas.”Mason said Harmon took advantage of the muddy conditions.
“Beforehand, we had targeted certain parts of the course,” said Mason. “She made (the mud) into a positive.”
Harmon and Mason’s trip started off a bit rocky as their flight from Eugene was canceled Saturday morning due to fog. Instead of landing in Indianapolis in the evening, the duo didn’t get there until almost 1 a.m. Sunday.
Overall, Colorado pulled off the upset of the day, easily winning the women’s team title over favorites Duke and Stanford. The Buffalos scored 63 points, placing all five of their scoring runners in the top-22.
Colorado swept the competition, winning the men’s 8K as well. The male squad won a thriller, knocking off No. 1 ranked Wisconsin 90-94.

Beau Eastes is a freelance reporter for the Daily Emerald