Asheville High School has something special going on within their rising sophomore class . . . 2 All-American milers!
John Harwell won the Freshman Mile at Nike Indoor Nationals back in March. At the time, his teammate and fellow freshman, Isaac Presson was a good runner, but then came the breakthrough.
If I remember correctly, Isaac ran a 3:18 1200 on a DMR leg and that transformed him into what we see today.
John had an outstanding XC season, running #2 for a very good Asheville team. He popped on the scene early unlike his fellow 9th grader, Isaac.
Both have had tremendous track seasons, capped off with Saturday's races.
Isaac was hoping to be in the fastest heat but something happened and he was lucky just to get into the 2nd fastest. Isaac played a bit of a cat and mouse game during his race, coming and going, but finally rolling the last 400 to win going away in 4:28.69.
Harwell took the lead early and pressed the pace through in 2:12 for the first 800. He led until the end of the 3rd lap when another athlete passed, but Harwell fought hard for his spot. He was clipped at the finish by 2 other 9th graders, yet ran 4:28.61.
Asheville's freshmen have proved themselves and should be a force in the future!