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Final hurdle: Girard’s Harden picks YSU
By charles grove
girard
It’s been a wild couple of weeks for Girard’s Collin Harden. He’s won a state title and has now accepted a scholarship offer to run for the Youngstown State track and field team.
The journey the past couple of months has another layer since just a few months ago Harden’s plan was to enroll at YSU and attempt to walk on to the football team.
“In mid-April track really picked up for him,” Girard head coach Kevin Hetrick said. “He really started to fall in love with track throughout the season and decided he wanted to run track in college. Five or six schools expressed interest in him and from those schools a couple came to the state meet.”
Those schools saw Harden’s talent as he won the Division II 300 hurdles and came in fifth in the 110 hurdles in a race he was seeded eighth. It was an enormous jump from where Harden was a year ago.
“In those hurdle events last year he finished 11th in our region. He didn’t even make a regional final,” Hetrick said. “And to go from 11th in the region to fifth in state in one event and being a champion in the other is a pretty big leap.”
Because of his late surge in high school, Harden’s recruiting process was put into fast forward. What some athletes go through over the course of a few years with recruiters, Harden experienced in about two months.
“Track-wise he wasn’t particularly planning on this,” Hetrick said. “It kind of fell into his lap. So it was a lot for him from walking on to try to play football to scholarship offers for track. But better late than never.”
Harden didn’t come up with his final decision until Thursday night, not even telling his parents of his choice until Friday morning.
“He never spoke about [the process],” Hetrick said. “He just took it all in, listened to what each coach had to say and what they were offering. I’d ask him how things were going and he’d just keep it to himself. He just wanted to make sure he made the best decision for him and he wanted to stay humble about it.”
Other schools Harden was considering included Eastern Michigan, Pitt and Akron, but the Penguins won out in the end.
“He had some good options,” Hetrick said. It took 10 days or so to process it but he just wanted to make sure he made the right decision.”
Hetrick said Harden is going to hit the ground running as a Penguin.
“He was the No. 1 hurdler in the state, so to keep him in the area is huge for YSU,” Hetrick said. “Collin knows he’s going to come in as a freshman and get right to the fire. It’s a good move for him. I’m happy for him.”
Harden will join two other Girard alumni on the YSU track and field team. Destiny Hall was a sophomore sprinter and Caitlyn Trebella was a freshman pole vaulter this past season. Ashley Wagner was a senior high jumper on this year’s team as well.
“We’re excited [at Girard],” Hetrick said. “This is our third year in a row sending someone to YSU.”
Phone calls and texts to Harden seeking comment were not returned.
YSU coaches also were not available for comment. The school has yet to receive Harden’s paperwork and declined to comment, citing NCAA restrictions.