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Hurdling success
Collin Harden runs into record book
It’s been a nice year for Collin Harden to say the least. Last June, he won the state championship in the 300 hurdles as a senior at Girard and this past Saturday he broke the Youngstown State school record in the 400 hurdles as a freshman.
Jay Payne’s record time at 52.11 set in 1993 was beaten by Harden’s time of 51.98.
“As soon as I heard 51 I knew I had it,” Harden said.
So what was better — the state championship or demolishing a record that’s stood longer than Harden has lived?
“I don’t know if there’s an answer to that,” Harden said. “Winning state was at such a big meet and this record was just at a regular meet so it’s hard to compare it.
“I will say I was excited as much as I was at state though.”
While the state championship and school record came in similar events, college runs the 400 hurdles while high school is the 300 hurdles. YSU head coach Brian Gorby said it takes a solid work ethic and a ton of maturity to make that transition — two things Harden has.
“You never know how a freshman is going to convert that last 100 hurdles,” Gorby said. “But he’s a hard-working kid and is such a strong runner. He’s about 49 seconds in the 400 dash so to only add two seconds to the hurdles is pretty impressive. Usually you add four to five seconds.
“But he’s also so mature. He doesn’t have that sense of ‘Hey, I accomplished something and look at me. He’s focused on track 100 percent and he’s ahead of schedule at practice every day.”
Harden said one of his first thoughts after breaking the school record was how to improve and lower that time even more.
“I wasn’t that satisfied because I’m never going to be that satisfied,” Harden said. “I have to get better and better and better. There’s things I’ll look at with my coaches about the run and try to improve on it.”
The hurdling program at YSU is one of the best in the nation. Chad Zallow ran for the national title in the 60 hurdles at the indoor championships, Amber Eles broke the school record in the same event on the women’s side and now Harden is ranked within the top 20 in the country now in the 400 hurdles.
“The scary part is how good can he get?” Gorby said. “He’s ranked somewhere around 8-12 in the East Region and he’s still got lots of room for improvement. He runs so strong and heavy and he’s gone to meets most freshman don’t go to. The meet he went to in Florida is usually all juniors and seniors.”
Harden will get an even bigger test this weekend at the Mt. SAC Relays in Torrence, Calif. Gorby said there will be 6,000-to-7,000 athletes during the multi-day event.
“It’s the biggest meet in the nation,” Gorby said. “Our guys will be going up against some of the most elite guys on Earth. There will be Olympians and Olympic hopefuls.
“Chad will be going up against seven pros and Collin will be up against some of the big time 400 meter runners. We only go every few years when we’re really good.”
While the school record got changed on the board at WATTS the morning after, Harden still needs to shave off a few tenths to get into a position for nationals this year.
“He’s only going to get quicker on speed,” Gorby said. “His form is solid and if he can get down to about 51.4 he can get to nationals which is a great situation for a freshman.”