Tears don’t win titles

Senior distance runner Emily Harris has been through multiple surgeries as a Lion. Last season she experienced the best year of her collegiate career, but fell victim to another setback. Now she is once again where she is most comfortable, in competition.

Levi Andrew| The Chart

Senior distance runner Emily Harris has been through multiple surgeries as a Lion. Last season she experienced the best year of her collegiate career, but fell victim to another setback. Now she is once again where she is most comfortable, in competition.

Emily Harris recalls being at her lowest after finishing second in the mile at the 2015 NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field Championships.

Not even a month later, Harris found herself needing surgery for the second time. First, it was back surgery during her freshman year.

Last spring, Harris needed hip surgery after tearing her labrum.

At that point, Harris wanted to give up. She wanted to quit.

“Other people had faith in me but it’s hard to have faith in yourself until you actually believe in yourself, and at that point I didn’t believe,” said Harris.

Harris handles stressing by running, but that was no longer an option for her. For two months.

Harris struggled with having to cope with the idea that she’d worked so hard and run so many miles just so she could sit around and wait for her body to heal properly. She described the recovery process as the waiting game, adding, “and the waiting game isn’t fun.”

She hated the recovery process, she hated that she couldn’t do things on her own, she hated that she couldn’t compete. Those same reasons are the reasons why Harris wanted to give it another go.

“Mentally, it made me have to get tough. I wanted to work even harder,” she said. “I realized I could come back because I’ve done it once before.”

Harris has grown a ton during her time off from competing. She realized that both surgeries were a stepping stone for her to come back better than ever. She knew that her love for running and competing would never diminish.

Looking back, Harris chuckled at the fact that she ever wanted to quit.

“I’m stronger than what I give myself credit for,” she said. “No matter what, I will never give up. The fact that I’ve proven to myself through two surgeries that I can still go out there and do it is just awesome.”

It’s taken a long time for Harris to get back to form. She has had to overcome the fear of re-injuring herself. She’s had to overcome the struggle to get her fi tness levels back to competition level. She’s had to overcome weeks of the competition getting better. But’s she’s accepted the challenge, even welcomes it.

She credits her comeback to her supporting cast and assistant cross country coach Jamie Burham.

“He’s been there for me since day one,” she said. “He’s been there for both of my surgeries. He’ll bend over backwards for me and the team. I think it’s pretty cool that an individual can make such an impact on my life.”

“Emily is just a trooper,” said Patty Vavra, the head coach of the women’s cross country team. “She has a giant heart. I can’t say enough great things about her.”

Harris takes a lot of pride in being a leader on this team. She knew she had a responsibility and a team that was counting on her to come back and lead them, both on and off the course.

“I have a commitment to this school, to this sport, to myself and to my teammates,” said Harris. “There’s no reason to give up. Giving up is easy. Why would you want to take the easy way out?”

Harris competed in the first race of the season at the Southwest Baptist Invite on Sept. 5, leading the team to a second-place finish.

Harris isn’t 100 percent quite yet, but she took a fourth place finish in the first race of the season.

“She’s been a great teammate and team leader,” said teammate Shelby Werner. “She is always positive and makes all want to run better.”