Seniors August Lorincz and Luke Harrison have emerged not only as team leaders this spring, but also as top contenders for state meet berths among the members of the Columbia High track and field team.
Lorincz is the Trico League and WIAA 1A District 4 leader in the 400 meters and Harrison leads in the discus. Coach Jim Anderson said each has risen to the top of their specialty through hard work and adherence to detail.
“He’s just getting better and better every week,” Anderson said of Lorincz. “He puts in such hard work at practice. It will not surprise me when he goes sub 50 [seconds].”
Lorincz’s 400 best this season is 51.84. That time is ranked 13th overall in WIAA Class 1A. Anderson said with warmer weather on the horizon, Lorincz has a good chance to lower his personal record at this week’s Trico League championships (May 10 at La Center; see related story this issue).
“He’s got the long legs, and stride, and he knows how to use them for speed,” Anderson said of his quarter-miler. “His kick is probably one of the best kicks I’ve had in a 400 runner since I’ve been at Columbia High School.
“His last 100 meters for 400 is probably his best.”
The Bruins have had some quality quarter-milers over the years, including school record holder Adam Neff, who ran 49.42 in 2003.
Lorincz also runs legs on the Bruin 4x400 and 4x100 relay teams, which also will be trying to advance out of sub-district this week to the May 16 WIAA District 4 meet (the qualifier for the 2024 state championships).
Harrison’s ascension to the top of the district discus ranks has been impressive (he is ranked No. 6 statewide for 1A throwers). His best last season as a junior was 102 feet, 6 inches. An offseason of weight training and technique work enabled him to open this season at 118-1 in March. In a three-day span in late April, he improved from 136-5 to 149-2 (at the May 17 Bruin Invite) to 149-8 three days later at the Jeff Agar Memorial in Trout Lake.
“He is hucking that thing out there,” Anderson said. “He’s easily going to go 150. He has a really good chance of qualifying for state in the discus.
“He’s one of those kids who threw for us last year and he just kind of perfected the technique this year and everything clicked. He’s a weight room beast; he’s in the weight room all the time.”
Harrison is an anomaly when it comes to high school throwers. He ran cross country for CHS in the fall and is the anchor leg on the Bruin 4x100 relay this spring. “He’s fast and so that helps in the discus in having those quick feet,” Anderson said.
The Columbia school record in the discus is 166-4, set in 2002 by Mike Wild.
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