When Emily Harrison first came to Virginia, she did not realize how successful she would be here.
However, in her third year, Emily Harrison has proven that she could potentially be one of the best cross country runners in the history of the school.
"She is one of the most rock-solid athletes I have ever worked with in terms of her approach and how consistent she is on a daily basis in terms of taking care of herself, putting in a lot of hard work and expecting a lot out of herself," coach Jason Dunn said. "It's important in our sport to have all of those characteristics, and she has made a lot of progress."
Harrison came to Virginia having won a state championship in cross country her senior year as well as the 3200 meter run her sophomore and senior seasons at Warren County High School. Her immediate results, though, were somewhat surprising. Harrison led the Cavaliers in every meet and qualified for the NCAA Championships.
"Coming out of the gate, as a freshman qualifying for nationals as an individual was a little bit of a surprise," Dunn said. "But ever since then she has improved and has done a great job for us."
Coming out of high school, Harrison saw the potential for the cross country team to be a national contender.
"When Coach Dunn was recruiting me, I was really impressed with the way that he was running the program and his training philosophy," Harrison said. "The program seemed to be taking some steps forward and I wanted to be a part of that process."
Harrison has achieved quite a bit in her first three seasons. In addition to qualifying for nationals and being named All-Conference as a freshman, she was also honored with both distinctions her sophomore year, missing All-American status by just 1.8 seconds last year.
"I definitely feel as if she is going to put herself in that group to be an All-American this year," Dunn said.
Harrison credits Dunn for her success on and off the course.
"He has really broadened my horizons," Harrison said. "He has really improved my training and overall aspects of running. He has really helped me progress as a person and as an athlete."
In addition to being successful on the course, her leadership is something that is an even more valuable asset to the team.
"Emily is certainly one of those people that exemplifies leadership by example, Dunn said. "She absolutely sets the standard on a daily basis in terms of practicing and her approach to races. As she has stepped up into more of a leadership role I think she has done a nice job of bringing along some of the younger runners."
Through hard work on the course, Harrison has not only put herself in position to be an All-American, but be a contender for a national championship. Harrison has no definite plans for the future, but she hopes to better her performances and those of the team.
"I want to just keep improving nationally each year and be stronger," Harrison said. "Seeing the program advance as well is a huge goal. I haven't really thought about post-collegiate running. It is something that Coach Dunn and I have talked about some, but I don't have any definite plans yet. I just want to see where I finish at fourth year and see how things are going, but I just hope to continue on being successful."
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