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Grand Canyon University Athletics
Coro: Rejections sent Harris to new heights
5/26/2021 9:30:00 AM | Track and Field, Paul Coro
GCU high jumper ranks 6th in nation in 1st Division I season
The only thing that Grand Canyon's world-class high jumper set out to do athletically in college was become a walk-on basketball player.
On his second GCU stint, Ethan Harris enters this week's NCAA Track and Field West Preliminary with the No. 6 high jump in the nation, a top-20 world ranking and a U.S. Olympic Trials bid. But it took rejection upon rejection upon rejection upon rejection on the court for Harris to find redirection to the track and raise the bar.
Ask Harris his favorite sport now and the Lopes junior who bounded 7 feet 5 inches (2.26 meters) this month still hesitates for a few seconds before saying, "track and field."
Harris always had ambition and confidence, but it was misplaced in basketball. From his Victor Valley Christian class of 15 graduates and California's lowest prep basketball level, Harris planned to walk on to the GCU basketball team despite being told at a Lopes summer camp, "You're going to have to get a lot better."
Because he took the wrong physical, Harris could not participate in GCU walk-on tryouts and wound up in campus spiritual and social gatherings more than class. The Victorville, California, native planned to start the next academic year on a mission but missed those deadlines and shifted to pursuing a walk-on spot at Colorado Mesa, whose basketball coach offered Harris a tryout and then left for another job.
The new coach told Harris to take his basketball class. At the end of the semester, he crushed Harris with "I didn't like the way you played."
Not easily dissuaded, Harris came back to the coach the next year offering to be a scout team player and was shut down again. Meanwhile, a Colorado Mesa decathlete from the Phoenix area, D'Angelo Foster, had seen Harris' athleticism in pickup basketball games and offered to help join the track and field team.
Harris initially passed but circled back to Foster, who showed video of his 6-foot-3 friend dunking to the track and field coach. Harris joined the team for a redshirt season. He could high jump his height in high school with no practice and choppy steps, but the Colorado Mesa coach immediately saw more in the first month of practice and predicted he would clear 7 feet as a collegian.
"Thank you for believing in me, but I don't believe that's going to happen," Harris told the coach. "Don't get your hopes up."
Harris loved the community of a track and field team and the detailed work of his event. That did not steer him away from a basketball mindset by summertime. He worked Colorado Mesa basketball camps and played pickup games to take another crack at becoming a walk-on basketball player.
"It's not going to happen," the coach told him for a second year, to which Harris said, "What about next year?"
Harris finally accepted the end and poured that same will into the high jump for 2019, becoming a Division II All-American for the indoor season and clearing 7-3 (2.2 meters) to be the Division II national champion for the outdoor season.
"I really love seeing the fruits of your labor pay off," Harris said. "Working hard might not pay off right away, but what you put into the sport, it will give back to you."
Harris did not love it enough to not try leaving it again. This time, on a birthday visit to GCU in 2019, he discovered how much he missed the Christian campus community and decided to re-enroll in Phoenix without consideration to track.
GCU head coach Tom Flood built a WAC track and field powerhouse, but he said Harris' arrival was "divine intervention." The Division II high jump champion found a WAC championship program and vice versa.
"He wanted to come back for personal redemption to make amends for an unfocused freshman year," Flood said. "He kind of asked for permission and we were like, 'Good Lord, you're a Division II national champion.'
"I liked his enthusiasm when I saw video of him jumping. I knew he had to be a good kid and team player from how teammates reacted to him. Talent is important, but it's got to be a good fit."
Harris again had to redshirt because of NCAA transfer rules, but that allowed him to train while reminding himself of why he returned with opportunities to lead Bible study and immerse in community outreach.
Even through a pandemic that cost his team a critical five weeks of fall weight room training, Harris gave his most dedicated year to track. GCU jumps coach Chris Riggs developed Harris' speed and mechanics to create a more powerful and technical jumper with teammate Josh Onwordi pushing him.
"It happens slow and then it happens all of a sudden," Harris said. "You put in all this work and you feel like, 'My run is better, my curve is better, my takeoff is better, but I'm not jumping higher.' Then, all of a sudden, I PR by 2 inches."
That personal record came at the Desert Heat Classic in Tucson on May 1. With two other national top-15 high jumpers competing, Harris used a two-hour pre-meet routine of treatment, meditation and warmups for the first time.
He cleared 2.22 meters for the first time ever, but went 2.26 meters a few minutes later for a GCU record.
"That was very emotional," Harris said. "It doesn't feel real. It's almost like an out-of-body experience. The first thought that came to mind was 'I'm going to the Olympic Trials.' This was a dream that I didn't have but now it's a dream I have so strongly."
On Friday, Harris will compete at the West regional in College Station, Texas, with hopes of finishing in the top 12 for a spot at NCAA Championships, which is June 9-12 in Eugene, Oregon. Two weeks later, Harris will be back there for U.S. Olympic Trials.
This has all come in his second college season and his first at the Division I level. Harris can compete for GCU again next year in the indoor season, as he pursues a master's degree in Leadership with goals to work in anti-human trafficking.
"Your body only has so many jumps in you and he's just getting started," Flood said. "2.35 (meters) takes you to another realm. He's got a legitimate shot. He's such a yearling and novice at it. He's just scratching the surface."
Harris is devoted to pursuing the 2022 World Championships, also in Oregon, and the 2024 Olympics in Paris. With a 2.26 jump, Harris has a more receptive ear when he reaches out to world-class trainers and jumpers for input.
"When you add up everybody who has had a hand in where I am today, you get into the dozens," Harris said. "This isn't a battle for an individual. This is a battle for a village.
"I'm really glad that I went through what I went through. It's given me a different outlook on failure. Looking back, that really hardened me and made me trust the Lord. Things don't always go the way you expect. Once a door closes, another door opens."
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On his second GCU stint, Ethan Harris enters this week's NCAA Track and Field West Preliminary with the No. 6 high jump in the nation, a top-20 world ranking and a U.S. Olympic Trials bid. But it took rejection upon rejection upon rejection upon rejection on the court for Harris to find redirection to the track and raise the bar.Ask Harris his favorite sport now and the Lopes junior who bounded 7 feet 5 inches (2.26 meters) this month still hesitates for a few seconds before saying, "track and field."
Harris always had ambition and confidence, but it was misplaced in basketball. From his Victor Valley Christian class of 15 graduates and California's lowest prep basketball level, Harris planned to walk on to the GCU basketball team despite being told at a Lopes summer camp, "You're going to have to get a lot better."
Because he took the wrong physical, Harris could not participate in GCU walk-on tryouts and wound up in campus spiritual and social gatherings more than class. The Victorville, California, native planned to start the next academic year on a mission but missed those deadlines and shifted to pursuing a walk-on spot at Colorado Mesa, whose basketball coach offered Harris a tryout and then left for another job.
The new coach told Harris to take his basketball class. At the end of the semester, he crushed Harris with "I didn't like the way you played."
Not easily dissuaded, Harris came back to the coach the next year offering to be a scout team player and was shut down again. Meanwhile, a Colorado Mesa decathlete from the Phoenix area, D'Angelo Foster, had seen Harris' athleticism in pickup basketball games and offered to help join the track and field team.
Harris initially passed but circled back to Foster, who showed video of his 6-foot-3 friend dunking to the track and field coach. Harris joined the team for a redshirt season. He could high jump his height in high school with no practice and choppy steps, but the Colorado Mesa coach immediately saw more in the first month of practice and predicted he would clear 7 feet as a collegian.
"Thank you for believing in me, but I don't believe that's going to happen," Harris told the coach. "Don't get your hopes up."
Harris loved the community of a track and field team and the detailed work of his event. That did not steer him away from a basketball mindset by summertime. He worked Colorado Mesa basketball camps and played pickup games to take another crack at becoming a walk-on basketball player.
"It's not going to happen," the coach told him for a second year, to which Harris said, "What about next year?"
Harris finally accepted the end and poured that same will into the high jump for 2019, becoming a Division II All-American for the indoor season and clearing 7-3 (2.2 meters) to be the Division II national champion for the outdoor season."I really love seeing the fruits of your labor pay off," Harris said. "Working hard might not pay off right away, but what you put into the sport, it will give back to you."
Harris did not love it enough to not try leaving it again. This time, on a birthday visit to GCU in 2019, he discovered how much he missed the Christian campus community and decided to re-enroll in Phoenix without consideration to track.
GCU head coach Tom Flood built a WAC track and field powerhouse, but he said Harris' arrival was "divine intervention." The Division II high jump champion found a WAC championship program and vice versa.
"He wanted to come back for personal redemption to make amends for an unfocused freshman year," Flood said. "He kind of asked for permission and we were like, 'Good Lord, you're a Division II national champion.'
"I liked his enthusiasm when I saw video of him jumping. I knew he had to be a good kid and team player from how teammates reacted to him. Talent is important, but it's got to be a good fit."
Harris again had to redshirt because of NCAA transfer rules, but that allowed him to train while reminding himself of why he returned with opportunities to lead Bible study and immerse in community outreach.
Even through a pandemic that cost his team a critical five weeks of fall weight room training, Harris gave his most dedicated year to track. GCU jumps coach Chris Riggs developed Harris' speed and mechanics to create a more powerful and technical jumper with teammate Josh Onwordi pushing him.
"It happens slow and then it happens all of a sudden," Harris said. "You put in all this work and you feel like, 'My run is better, my curve is better, my takeoff is better, but I'm not jumping higher.' Then, all of a sudden, I PR by 2 inches."That personal record came at the Desert Heat Classic in Tucson on May 1. With two other national top-15 high jumpers competing, Harris used a two-hour pre-meet routine of treatment, meditation and warmups for the first time.
He cleared 2.22 meters for the first time ever, but went 2.26 meters a few minutes later for a GCU record.
"That was very emotional," Harris said. "It doesn't feel real. It's almost like an out-of-body experience. The first thought that came to mind was 'I'm going to the Olympic Trials.' This was a dream that I didn't have but now it's a dream I have so strongly."
On Friday, Harris will compete at the West regional in College Station, Texas, with hopes of finishing in the top 12 for a spot at NCAA Championships, which is June 9-12 in Eugene, Oregon. Two weeks later, Harris will be back there for U.S. Olympic Trials.
This has all come in his second college season and his first at the Division I level. Harris can compete for GCU again next year in the indoor season, as he pursues a master's degree in Leadership with goals to work in anti-human trafficking.
"Your body only has so many jumps in you and he's just getting started," Flood said. "2.35 (meters) takes you to another realm. He's got a legitimate shot. He's such a yearling and novice at it. He's just scratching the surface."
Harris is devoted to pursuing the 2022 World Championships, also in Oregon, and the 2024 Olympics in Paris. With a 2.26 jump, Harris has a more receptive ear when he reaches out to world-class trainers and jumpers for input.
"When you add up everybody who has had a hand in where I am today, you get into the dozens," Harris said. "This isn't a battle for an individual. This is a battle for a village.
"I'm really glad that I went through what I went through. It's given me a different outlook on failure. Looking back, that really hardened me and made me trust the Lord. Things don't always go the way you expect. Once a door closes, another door opens."
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