By Jarrid Denney
Keni Harrison and her coach made a decision at the end of last summer to focus solely on the 100 meter hurdles during the Olympic year and plan her training program entirely around that event.
The decision paid off in huge way for Harrison as she ran the second fastest time ever Saturday afternoon and blew away a field of competitors who had consistently topped her in the past.
Harrison shattered the Hayward Field record and set a new American record with a winning time of 12.24 seconds at the Prefontaine Classic at Hayward Field Saturday afternoon.
“I didn’t feel that fast at all,” Harrison said. “I felt really smooth, but you know when you go out there and run for a time you don’t ever get that time. When you go out there and just execute and don’t really worry about a time, that’s when the fast times come.”
Harrison finished well ahead of runner-up Brianna Rollins (12.53), who set the previous American record of 12.26 seconds in June 2015, Dawn Harper-Nelson, who edged out Harrison to win the 2015 U.S. outdoor title, and former Hayward Field record-holder Sharika Nelvis placed fifth in 12.82.
“That race is nowhere near where I am,” Harper-Nelson said. “I’m not gonna lie — I think I warmed up way too early, and I sat round for forever. Because even after the gun went off, I was like, ‘My legs are not here.'”
“It is what is is sometimes. Luckily, I have some more races to put it together.”
In one race, Harrison set American, meet, and location records, while also making it clear that she is in peak form with the Olympic trials less than six weeks away.
“My coach always puts in my mind 12.1, 12.1, 12.1, so that’s what I go for at practice. To see how close I was to that time, I’m really pleased.”
“Of course, the goal is to try to go for the Olympic team and get that world record.”
Harrison won NCAA indoor and outdoor titles in 2015, while competing at Kentucky and was a 15-time All-American for the Wildcats. At the end of last outdoor season, she made the choice to scrap the 400 meter hurdle event — despite winning an SEC title during the 2014 season — in order to train strictly for the 100 hurdles.
Instead of going through longer workouts like she had in the past, Harrison eliminated many of the 600-meter or longer workouts from her workload and instead focused on more speed work during the fall.
After an eighth-place finish in the 60 meter hurdles at the 2016 IAAF Indoor World Championships in March, Harrison found a rhythm in the shorter event and emerged as the most consistent competitor in a deep group of U.S. hurdlers during this outdoor season.
“I do not want to peak out right now,” Harrison said. “I’m 100 percent focused on the 100 hurdles.”
