CANYON HIGH JUNIOR MAKES GREAT STRIDES.Byline: Bryan Winchell Special to the Daily News When Julie Harris Julie Harris (born December 2, 1925) is a distinguished American stage, screen, and television actress. She has won five Tony Awards and three Emmy Awards, and was nominated for an Academy Award. She is a member of the American Theatre Hall of Fame. looks back three years to her junior high days, she sees a different person. The Canyon High School Canyon High School can refer to:
Oh, how things have changed. Harris is now the Canyon record holder in the two-mile after running a 10:58 in last weekend's Arcadia Invitational in·vi·ta·tion·al adj. Restricted to invited participants: an invitational golf tournament. n. An event, especially a sports tournament, restricted to invited participants. Adj. 1. . ``I talked to a couple of her PE coaches at the junior high and they shake their heads and say, `It can't be her,' '' said Canyon coach Dave DeLong, who trains the distance runners distance runner n. A runner who competes in distance races. . Harris attributes her change to a two-mile run she did during her ninth-grade badminton badminton (băd`mĭntən), game played by volleying a shuttlecock (called a "bird")—a small, cork hemisphere to which feathers are attached—over a net. Light, gut-strung rackets are used. class. She and her friend, Tommy Patela, usually would finish first-second and that sparked her competitive nature. ``I decided to go out for the track team because I got bored in the PE class,'' Harris said. ``I'm addicted ad·dict·ed adj. 1. Physiologically or psychologically dependent on a habit-forming substance. 2. Compulsively or habitually involved in a practice or behavior, such as gambling. to running now.'' Running is now so much a part of her routine that on a recent trip to Washington, D.C., Harris found a half-hour to an hour every day to run. DeLong believes in increasing the difficulty of an athlete's training as he or she moves up in class standing. Some athletes respond by working harder and others don't. Harris was definitely among the former. ``Last year she was along for the ride where this year she wants to be one of the best,'' DeLong said. ``If the girls run six miles, she'll come right back and do a couple more.'' After a recent meet with Hart at College of the Canyons College of the Canyons is one of the fastest-growing community colleges in the state. According to the National Junior College Research Association, College of the Canyons consistently ranks in the top 50 community colleges in the nation. , Harris was getting on the bus to go back to Canyon when DeLong called her off. ``He said I was going to run back to school with him,'' Harris said. ``He told me it was 6-1/2 miles, I was thinking it was a lot more. We got about a mile away and realized it was more like eight miles so we took a shortcut (1) In Windows, a shortcut is an icon that points to a program or data file. Shortcuts can be placed on the desktop or stored in other folders, and double clicking a shortcut is the same as double clicking the original file. because I was getting tired and it was dark.'' Harris' fatigue can be easily attributed to her running the mile, half-mile and two-mile races at the meet. ``She never would have done that last year,'' DeLong said. ``It's that type of commitment that will make the difference in the long run, plus she has a lot of natural ability.'' For Harris, running is something she does for herself. ``When I told my parents I was going out for track they were worried I'd have a heart attack or something,'' Harris said. ``They don't give me any pressure at all. If I have a bad race I feel bad about it but I don't let anybody down.'' DeLong believes that Harris has the right balance of taking her running seriously but having a good time while doing it. ``If I'm not having fun, it's kind of like, `what's the point?' '' Harris said. Harris, who wanted to run sprints when she came out for the team, even admits to liking the two-mile more than the mile now. ``(The two-mile) seems a lot harder to me and I like the challenge,'' Harris said. ``So much can happen in eight laps.'' Harris is hoping to qualify for the state meet but knows that she must drop about 10 more seconds. She'll stop running the mile next week so she can focus on the two-mile for the CIF (1) (Common Intermediate Format) A standard video format used in videoconferencing. CIF formats are defined by their resolution, and standards both above and below the original resolution have been established. The original CIF is also known as Full CIF (FCIF). and state meets. She also has been focusing on her studies, raising her grade point average to 3.5 this semester se·mes·ter n. One of two divisions of 15 to 18 weeks each of an academic year. [German, from Latin (cursus) s . ``I want to go to either Washington State or Oregon State,'' she said. ``I heard they are really good running schools and I don't like the hot weather. It's not good when you're on a long run.'' CAPTION(S): Photo Photo: Julie Harris Holds school 2-mile record |
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